Gathering Storm Revamped Of Thunder and Lightning
by Someonerandome
Summary: Gathering Storm revamped. In a twist of events, Morrible takes her time before getting rid of Nessa. The result of this interlude before Elphie rushes to her sister's aid will set off a chain of events that will change Oz forever...
1. Prologue Part 1

Disclaimer: Not mine.

**A.N:Okay, so basically I've just been going through some of my old fics and editin them. this is one. I haven't taken down the original yet because I have since regretted doing so with the Skyland fic that I am revamping. Will there be HUGE changes in this one? Probably not but you never know. Anyways, here we have it, read, enjoy, review the usual. **

Introduction—Chapter 1

"Fiyero?" Elphaba whispered to him one morning. The Vinkus Prince didn't open his eyes—didn't want to open his eyes. He couldn't believe it had been 3 months since they had escaped the Emerald City with the Monkeys. That night in the woods had certainly been memorable, and they had made other nights just as memorable since arriving at their little hide-away in Kiamo Ko.

The hideout itself had been a bit of a fixer-upper, though in reality that made it all the better. The pair hadn't done that much to change it for that reason. The more abandoned and the creepier the castle looked the better. Elphaba had placed a few subtle, but powerful, confusion spells so that someone they didn't want to see would have a difficult time even making it through the woods and she had disguised those enchantments with other surface spells that would be typical to old castles.

As it was, they had only received guests who were also from the Animal rebellion. They currently had a Tiger staying with them and, of course, the winged monkeys who were completely devoted to their rescuer. Other then that, it was just the two of them—except when Elphaba went on a mission. Missions that were more often dangerous then not.

"Fiyero," The green woman repeated, shaking her lover a little more to get him to wake up. He opened one eye just a crack to see that she was already dressed. This didn't bode well with him. She'd been up most of the night—normally she did that when she was preparing to go out on a job for the resistance. He moaned and snuggled into the blankets a little more—the very picture of a child who didn't want to get up for school. He really didn't want to go through the routine of saying goodbye and good luck while fearing it might be the last time he ever saw his Elphie-Faye. He knew that she felt the same when he went on a mission of his own, (the few times that he had, usually it was her) but he doubted that was currently the case.

"Fiyero!"

"I'm sleeping." He murmured with a frown.

"Yero, I have something to tell you." Elphaba said as she ran a hand over his back and shoulder lovingly but also nervously "It's important."

"Elphaba, please…don't." he said, not pretending to be asleep anymore. He turned over towards her and sat up, taking her emerald skinned hand into his own. He kissed her fingers as he closed his eyes and sighed "Don't tell me that you're going to leave me on one of your missions that you might not come back from. Not while I'm half-awake and might mistake it for just a bad dream."

"You might anyway." Elphaba said dryly, squeezing his hand back. She bit her lip and looked down at her lap. She pulled her hand out from his grip and turned around so that her back was towards him, smoothing out her skirts awkwardly "But in a few months you will have a crying, smelly, _loud_ bundle of evidence."

"_What_?" the Prince asked crawling out of bed and kneeling in front of her. He searched her face curiously for some form of clarification. She wouldn't meet his eye and tears started to trickle down her face.

"You're going to be a father." She whispered, finally meeting his gaze as the tears started to slide down her cheeks freely "I…oh sweet Oz! It's an-an accident. I didn't even know if I was fertile or not…I mean with all my physical anomalies…my skin, my powers…I've _never_ had regular cycles but I've missed _three_ periods so I had to check…" she heaved another great sigh "I'm pregnant Yero. Sweet Lurline I'm pregnant! "

There was a tense silence for several seconds which was punctuated only by Elphaba's soft sobs as the news sank in. Then suddenly Fieyero grinned. He leapt to his feet with a whoop, picking up his lover and twirling around with her in his arms laughing joyously.

"Are you serious? We're going to be parents?" he asked excitedly, putting her down gently. She looked shocked at his reaction. He on the other hand was exuberant. His face was practically glowing as he gently wiped her tears away before passionately kissing her.

"Wait," Elphaba interrupted, pulling back slightly to search his face—hardly believing her luck, "You aren't upset?"

"No!" he exclaimed as he held her to him tightly and rested his cheek on her "And it's not an accident, it's a miracle. Elphie-Fae, this is wonderful! Alright, it might not be the best timing, but we'll muddle through this." The green girl's lip quivered again and she pulled out of his embrace, hugging herself tightly.

"But what if it's…what if the baby's…" she trailed off, unable to say it

"Green?" He finished for her, coming up behind her and turning her around to face him gently. He cupped her face in both hands with the tenderness that only he had ever shown the greed woman "What's wrong with that? I love you, Faye. And we will love this baby." He said. The green girl let out a snorting laugh

"But we aren't getting _at_ _all_ corny, are we?" she sniggered, kissing him again.

"No, of course not." He smiled into her lips as his fingers tangled themselves in her hair "You're sure I'm not dreaming?" he asked in a breathy whisper

"Should we make sure you're awake then?" Elphaba replied huskily as Fiyero started to undo the buttons on her dress…

A little while later the two were lying in each others' arms with the blankets pulled up to their chests. One of his arms was cradling her shoulders and hugging her to him as she traced invisible patterns on his skin. Around her neck the thin gold chain was now visible. It held a pendent around her neck; an emerald set in a blue diamond. Fiyero had given it to her a few days after their escape as a token of his love. She cherished it and had sworn from that day forward that it would never leave her neck.

"Still think you're asleep?" she murmured

"If I am, this is the most amazing dream in my entire life! This is really happening?" he asked, one hand moving down to her abdomen.

"Wait a minute, you're not just trying to make me feel better at this point?" she asked him as she propped herself up on one elbow. He shook his head. "You're really excited, aren't you?"

Fiyero cocked his head slightly

"And _you're_ really frightened." He said "Its okay, like I said, we'll muddle through this. Everything will be fine. I'll take care of you and together we'll protect this little miracle of ours." Elphaba sat up and pulled her knees to her chest

"That's not all I'm worried about." She muttered

"What then?" her lover asked her as he sat up and rubbed her smooth green back comfortingly. She looked round at him

"Oz…how did this even happen?"

"I think we just demonstrated that…" The Prince said suggestively with a waggle of his eyebrows. She shot him a glare that sobered him up immediately

"You know what I mean!" She snapped "How can _I_ be a mother? I don't the first thing about children! I don't know if I even have a maternal instinct!"

"Of course you do…"

"Have you ever seen me with a child? _Any_ child aside from the caged Lion Cub?" she asked him. Fiyero opened and then closed his mouth. He hadn't actually seen her interact with any children…

"That's right." She said "Kids follow their parents example; they stay away from me. Both when I was one and when I grew up. When I was a child no one wanted to take me under their wing even after my mother died when I was 2. I haven't had any sort of maternal figure to learn this stuff from since then! I'm not good with kids! They're loud and smelly and they can't tell you what they want and all they do is eat and cry, eat and cry, eat and cry." Her eyes widened a little at the apparent horror. Fiyero smiled and pulled her to him in a tight embrace.

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit. Everything will work out, we'll make it work." He said. Elphaba sighed and snuggled closer

"Well, maybe the child will take after its father." She murmured. The Vinkus prince smiled as he stroked her hair

"Not entirely I hope. For everyone's sake he or she better have your brains!"

"Well, that is true." His lover agreed teasingly. It felt good to hear the smile in her voice again.

"Besides, there are plenty of cool things about you. Your powers…"

"Yeah." Elphaba snorted "_Those_ are a blessing."

"Your photographic memory, your hair…" The green woman didn't argue that one "And how many people can say that they're both left AND right handed?"

"It's called ambidexterity. I guess it can be useful. But none of this negates the fact that I'm the most wanted criminal in all of Oz!"

"We'll figure something out, we'll keep this child safe. It's not just about us anymore after all. Everything will work out. You'll see."

Elphaba closed her eyes and nuzzled him as he tightened his arms around her and she prayed that he was right.


	2. Prologue Part 2

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Introduction Chapter 2.

**A/N: First of all, you people are absolutely AMAZING! Oh my gosh! 7 reviews for the first chapter! I'm not sure I got that for any of the chapters the first time around! Please keep it up!**

** Okay, so some things that I forgot**** to mention in the previous chapter,**

** This is musicalverse, therefore Elphaba is NOT allergic to water in this. I love the book, but like I said this is based on the musical in which the condition is portrayed as a political fabrication.**

** Next: When I first wrote this I had been watching some youtube clips of Kerry Ellis as Elphaba and thought that she was amazing and then later I came across this close up of her in the full make up and costume in which the actresses eyes really popped out (at least to me they did). I couldn't help but think how expressive the blue eyes against the green skin was so I decided to give Elphaba blue grey eyes. I'm not saying that she looks exactly like Kerry Ellis, but…yeah. You'll see why its relevant later. Actually, this might change…What the heck. Just read. Oh and review please.**

&^ **_5 months later_**^&

Glinda sniffed slightly as she placed a bouquet of flowers at the base of the house next to Nessarose's feet. As she wiped her eyes and nose the edge of a shadow seemed to touch hers.

"What a touching display of grief." Elphaba remarked acidly as the blonde gasped and whirled around to her feet. The green woman was still wearing that strange illusion of the short hooked-nosed old hag with straggly hair and boils. Apart from the green skin, it looked nothing like the tall, athletic but slender woman that Glinda knew. But she _did_ know the voice though and glared daggers into her former friend

"I don't believe we have anything to say to one another." Glinda said, turning her back on the green witch. She made no comment on the illusion.

"I wanted something to remember her by, and all that was left of her were _those_ _shoes_! And now that wretched little farm-girl has _walked off with them_!" the Witch of the West yelled, her voice rising with each passing word. "So now I would like a moment alone, to say goodbye to _my_ _sister_." She said. Glinda clenched her teeth, still furious with Elphaba, but nevertheless turned away to leave. As the Witch of the North started to stalk off Elphaba felt the tears rush to her eyes and she leaned against the wretched house for support as shudders wracked her body. The sound of the other woman's soft crying stopped the blonde in her tacks.

"Oh Nessa…please forgive me!" Elphaba sobbed

"Oh _Elphie_!" the Witch of the North cried flinging herself over to her friend to try and embrace her. The other witch shoved her off and moved a few paces back as she struggled to maintain the illusion she had wrapped around herself. If the blonde hugged her, she'd feel the considerable bump beneath her dress. She placed her hands on the swell of her belly protectively. Thanks to the spell, Glinda saw it as her bending over in her overwhelming grief, which only made her want to comfort Elphaba more. "It's not your fault, really! It's dreadful, it is, to have a house fall on—what in Oz is _that_?" she broke off mid sentence, her voice rising in pitch as the illusion melted away to reveal the large swell of the Green Girl's abdomen. Elphaba looked down to see that the knarled hands she had given herself had returned to their smooth and youthful form again. She then looked down at what Glinda had her disdainful gaze glued upon and placed that hand on her swollen rounded belly protectively once again.

"Sweet Oz! Elphie, are-are you…?" The blonde sputtered. Elphaba nodded slowly, tears still streaming down her face.

"And it's…Fieyero's?"

Another nod. Finally she looked up met Glinda's gaze, those startling silver-blue eyes shining with pain and loss...but also a touch of hope.

"I love him Glinda." She whispered. The Blonde's expression spoke volumes as it mirrored the hurt, shock and internal battle the raged within her at these revelations.

"Elphie I—"

Suddenly Gale Force soldiers appeared out of nowhere with a battle cry and Elphaba backed up, eyes going wide with fear and disbelief. She couldn't get away! They were too close and in her present condition she was too slow! Within a heartbeat the soldiers had surrounded the pregnant witch and two of them grabbed her arms to restrain her roughly while a third held a rifle trained on her. The others surrounded the perimeter. Somewhere in this struggle the Witch lost her pointed hat.

As the gale force wrestled their captive back a few steps Glinda picked up the hat, calling futilely for the soldiers to stop.

The green woman's abdomen attracted the collective eye of her captors almost immediately. None of them bothered to disguise the slightly revolted and shocked looks they exchanged with each other at her obvious pregnancy; in fact, some of them seemed to exaggerate it.

Looking over at the blonde, Elphaba shook her head in rising fury, her nostrils flaring. Just when she had started to think that maybe Glinda wasn't such a little twerp!

"I can't believe you would sink so low! To use my sister's _death_ as a trap to capture me!" she cried, the sense of betrayal and rage evident in her tone. The blonde looked from the look on her friend's face to the guards and then back in desperate denial

"No! Elphie it wasn't like that! It-" the blonde exclaimed, but the 'Good' Witch was cut off by yet another battle cry as one daring Prince Tiggular swung down into the scene dramatically. He landed in a crouch and straightened swiftly, a rifle in his hands.

"Let the green girl go!" he cried, pointing his gun at the soldiers restraining his lover. When they didn't move his expression hardened from determined to dangerous "DO IT! **_NOW_**!" he demanded louder. When they didn't make a move he decided to switch tactics.

"_OR_ tell all of Oz how the Gale Force soldiers stood and watched while Glinda the Good was slain!" he said, turning the gun on his ex. She let out a terrified squeal.

"Fiyero what are you doing?" Elphaba cried. She might be angry with Glinda, but didn't want her friend to be killed! Certainly not by her lover!

"Fiyero!" Glinda wailed as she clutched that to her chest in terror

"Quiet!" he snapped at her, perhaps more harshly then was necessary before repeating his ultimatum; "_Let_ _her_ _go_!" for several tense moment no one moved. The two witches glanced at each other then at Fiyero and then at the guards. Finally the blonde sniffed and her expression hardened.

"Do it!" Glinda commanded, catching the Green woman's eye as she was released and tossing her the hat. Elphaba caught it deftly and walked (almost waddled) over to Fiyero.

"Come on." She whispered in his ear. Unnoticed by either of them was that her precious green bottle had slipped from it's worn pocket and onto the ground. Glinda saw it though.

"Go!" Fieyero told her when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"No, not without you." She replied, and in a lower volume—for his ears only—as she placed a hand on her belly "Don't forget who else this child needs." He looked back at her briefly, his eyes glancing from her eyes to the swell of her stomach keeping the rifle trained on Glinda.

"I'll be fine, go!" he told her when she hesitated, he tightened his grip on the gun and Glinda whimpered.

"Fiyero…" she began

"It's not just about you and me anymore." He said to her out of the corner of his mouth. Elphaba opened her mouth but no words came out. Instead she ducked her head and ran off awkwardly into the woods.

Once she was out of sight with broom in hand, the soldiers moved to give chase only to find the Vinkus Prince standing in their way with the gun pointed at them. They surrounded the prince in an instant. After a few long, drawn out moments he surrendered his rifle even more slowly. He was willing to do anything to give Elphaba some more time, and no matter what he would never surrender her location, no matter what they did to him—and it looked like that conviction was about to be tested. Two of them grabbed him and forced him down to his knees and a third raised the butt of his rifle high above his head with the intention of bringing it down _hard _on various parts of Fiyero's body. However, before they could start beating the crap out of him Glinda intervened

"Stop! STOP! _STOP_! Don't you see?" she asked, kneeling beside him, "He was never going to harm me! He just…he loves _her_. And what she carries." As she spoke she subtly picked up the green bottle.

"Glinda, I am so sorry. I never meant…" Fiyero trailed off, hanging his head slightly. What could he say to her? He'd never wanted to hurt her, but he had. He'd loved the blonde, sure just…not the same way she loved him. His heart had always belonged to Elphaba really. Glinda almost seemed to sense what he was thinking and patted his shoulder in forgiveness.

The Captain on the other hand didn't seem to share the sentiment. His eyes narrowed when he looked upon Fiyero and his lip curled. He pushed Glinda to the side and backhanded the Vinkus Prince with a resounding _smack_.

"Traitor." He snarled before turning to his men "String him up on those poles there!"

"No!" Glinda stated in blatant horror

"Take him to the field until he tells us where the witch went!"

"No! Please don't hurt him! Please! Stop! NO, please!" Glinda begged, to no avail. One of the Guards who was a little more in control and a great deal more compassionate pulled her away from the scene. He allowed her to slam her fists into his chest and fight and kick and struggle and scream with an expressionless face—but he also let her cry into his shoulder and held her calmly.

Unbeknownst to the blissfully ignorant Glinda, the entire thing had been a set up. One of the many things she didn't realize was that Elphaba was being followed and that it was the perfect time to follow her. She was exhausted, an emotional wreck after loosing her sister and being forced to leave her lover behind and her physical limits were being pushed to their extent.

As it was, Glinda's mind was on her Ex. The terrible fate of the dashing prince was all she was thinking about when the soldier dragged her away. Eventually after she had cried herself out, she was almost glad that he had taken her away.

However, if she had stayed, she would have heard the desperate, anguished chanting that echoed through the air and seen clouds build around. She would have heard the echoing, strange incantation and seen the strange transformation that took place… …

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By the time Elphaba reached Kiamo Ko she was sobbing uncontrollably and felt as though her skin was on fire even though a cold rain was drenching her body. She and Fiyero had 3 house guests; the experienced midwife Nanny Goat (who had elected to stay and help Elphaba during her pregnancy) a Bear and a Tiger. The Bear Elphaba had rescued recently and who was just finished recuperating from her physical injuries, though the emotional wounds she possessed might never heal. The Tiger was an active, high ranking member of the resistance with an accent that the Wizard would have labelled as Spanish. He had recently been giving the expecting couple parenting tips, often speaking fondly of his own unruly young cub's escapades.

The Monkeys' chatter and excitement brought them all to the window of the stormy afternoon and they searched the skies for some sign of what had startled them. They had a feeling they knew, but the agitation of Elphaba's winged friends did not bode well.

"Look!" The Tiger exclaimed, pointing to a black dot in the sky. A figure on a broomstick was approaching, but the journey seemed laboured; the broom dipped weakly several times before struggling back into the air in response to its rider's anguished and weakening state. The Animals clambered up to the tower just as she flew in the window—alone.

"Elphaba!" they cried as she made a slamming motion with her hand. The door responded to the silent but powerful command by booming shut in their faces, the lock clicking into place. They pounded on the wood of the obstacle, begging her to tell them what happened as Chistery shrieked in agitation. Nanny Goat in particular seemed very concerned. She hadn't liked the flushed tone of her friend's skin or the rattling in her breath. Inside the room they could hear the Witch's anguished cry of her mate's name before she started chanting.

"Never mind the spell!" Nanny bleated exasperatedly "You know she's the only one who understands that gibberish! Help me get this door down!"

"I'm on it!" the Bear growled as she backed up and started ramming into the wood, using her shoulder to make it rattle on its hinges expertly. She was not only large and strong but intelligent. She'd broken down doors before. With any luck this would not take long.

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Inside Elphaba was crafting and casting her spell, throwing as much power into it as she could muster as her emotional turmoil reared its powerful, ugly head, combining with fever to cloud her thoughts. The angered, pained thoughts that had been buried so deep within her were released, shouted aloud between phrases of the enchantments. Time and time again she had tried to do good. Then time and time again: Disaster. Followed by people had either blaming her, getting hurt or both. What was the point? She was loosing everyone! Dr. Dillamond, Nessa, Glinda really if she was honest with herself, and now Fiyero. No—she couldn't loose Fiyero! Never!

What was the point of doing good anyway? That didn't seem to be what people wanted…All of Oz wanted a mere scapegoat. They weren't interested in good or the truth, they just desired something clean cut so that they didn't have to worry, so that they could follow someone blindly and not have to think for themselves! They wanted someone to hate! Well then, if she couldn't save the one she loved, she'd give the people what they wanted!

"No Good DEED! Will I DO!" Elphaba yelled to the tower ceiling in "AAAGGAAAIIINNN! Never again!" she yelled. Her breath was laboured and her vision started to blur.

"Never…Never again! Never…" she gasped, collapsing to the cold stone floor. It was then that the door finally gave way and Chistery led the Nanny Goat, Tiger and Bear in.

The Goat was immediately at her friend's side, kneeling down beside her and gently pulling the green woman's head into her lap so that she might check the vital signs. The Bear and Tiger on the other hand skidded to a halt a few strides away from the Witch. Their eyes were drawn to the puddle spreading from their green friend's skirts.

"What the…" the Bear started

"Her water has broken." The Goat cut her off as she gently touched the skin above her hoof over the Witch's forehead to feel for a fever. Just then a commotion outside with Monkeys' made the Bear narrow her eyes. With a murmured excuse she loped out the door to check it out. The others barely noticed, they had bigger things on their mind obviously.

"But-but it is too early! She's got nearly a month to go!" The Tiger exclaimed at Nanny's statement, his eyes going wide. He'd never been in a delivery room before—his mate had banished him from the cave when she had had their cubs, wanting the help of her mother instead of his terrified bumbling help which was no help at all.

"Tell that to the baby!" Nanny snapped. "Sweet Lurline, she's burning up! We have to deliver this baby _now_. Come; help me get her to the bedroom. At least there are blankets and a water basin there, not to mention somewhere for her to lie down.

The Tiger lifted the woman as though she weighed no more than a porcelain doll and held her just as carefully as they rushed their friend and leader down the many flights of stairs and into her room. Somewhere on the journey Elphaba began to regain consciousness slowly. She let out a low moan as they kicked the door to her chamber open and her silver-blue eyes began to flutter labouredly when she was laid down gently on the bed

"Fiyero…" she murmured feverishly as Nanny gently but quickly stripped her down and pulled a nightshift over her "What's happening? Where am I?"

"You're going into labour dear." Nanny said gently as the Tiger brought in some towels and hot water before the Goat sent him off for some more supplies. Right on queue a contraction hit and Elphaba let out a strained cry of pain, her whole body tensing. She gasped and took several deep, quick breaths.

Right at that moment the Tiger burst into the room without the things that Nanny had sent him for.

"The Gale Force is here!" the Cat cried "Ralimla's just been captured trying to fend them off! We have to get out of here!"

"We can't move her now!"

"I wouldn't think of it." A terrifyingly familiar voice said from the direction of the hallway. The two Animals turned around slowly and Elphaba struggled to sit up to see Morrible ascending the stairs with a smug look on her face. Several Gale-Force officers flanked her, what looked to be an entire platoon in fact. Several of them dragged monkeys along with them, their wings tied cruelly to their backs. Ralimla the Bear was also being hauled around by chains that were clamped around her neck and paws.

The sight of this caused the rage to build up within Elphaba again.

"You!" she snarled "You get away from us!" she snarled at her. A window exploded nearby in response to the Witch's distress.

"Now, now Dearie," Morrible cooed insidiously

"NO! You stay away from me!" The Witch yelled. This time a box burst into pieces, scattering the Monkey food across the floor "I swear on my mother's grave if you take one step closer I'll…"

"Look," Nanny interrupted in a no-nonsense voice as she looked straight at the Press-Secretary "Do you want either of these two?"

"How dare you talk to me _Goat_?" Morrible snarled, striding towards the room menacingly

"Get away FR-RRAAGGHHH! AWWRGH!" Elphaba's shout morphed into a scream as another painful contraction hit. She curled up slightly and then flopped her head back down on the pillow panting.

"Trust me, we won't be going anywhere." The Goat stated as she mopped her friend's brow before pointing at the fish-like woman "But _you_ need to leave or at least stand outside. She's in bad enough shape to begin with and it would be a difficult enough birth without her using up all her strength trying to get rid of you. I assume since you haven't shot us yet that you want either her or the child alive?"

"Animals should be seen and not heard Goat!" Morrible snapped, enraged at the tone that this Animal took with her. Who did this thing think it was? However before she could make a move to punish the creature her prey had once more pushed herself up

"Shut up you giant carp! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Elphaba roared. The disintegration of a nearby cabinet decided Morrible and she unhappily complied with the Goat's instructions and closed the door. She wasn't about to go far though and ordered her troops to bring her a comfortable chair to sit in. She settled against the opposite wall, staring intently at the door with the two captured Animals at the feet of her top ranking officers. The Bear and Tiger exchanged worried, frightened glances but remained quiet—unlike Chistery who made a giant fuss until they let him back into the room where his beloved mistress was.

When the Guard did so he stuck his head in to demand how long it was going to take. The Nanny Goat snorted

"As long as it takes." She retorted "You might want to get comfortable; it'll be a long wait.

It was not an easy delivery by any means.

After Morrible had closed the door and stopped harassing her, Elphaba had calmed down a bit which meant that it wouldn't be quite as difficult though. For a while it quieted down a bit as the contractions were relatively far apart. However as the evening wore on and melted into night her infrequent moans of pain became frequent and once again escalated into screams. Ironically enough a storm was building at the same time, intensifying the atmosphere for the birth of this child. Thunder boomed, announcing the presence of atmospheric power accompanied by the deadly strike of lightning. Even though the lightning always came first, at times it seemed like the thunder was announcing its arrival.

Unfortunately, Elphaba's condition deteriorated over the course of her labour as she moved in and out of consciousness and delirium.

"Fiyero…" she whimpered feverishly "No…don't make me leave you! NO! No please…let his bones never break…no pain…let him fell no…never die..."

"Shhh." Nanny shushed as she smoothed back some of the raven black hair from her charge's sweaty scalp "Shhh." She'd been like this for the last hour or so, even through contractions. Suddenly the green woman's eyes snapped open and she looked around with slight disorientation

"Where…" she began as she regained her senses. She cried out as the strongest contraction yet hit her

"We're nearly there now Dearie!" Nanny encouraged "Now I need you to keep pushing, just a little bit longer…"

Elphaba's most agonized howl yet echoed through the castle ominously, making the party waiting outside to stiffen and turn their attention back to the door.

A short time later the gusty wail of a baby could be heard. Ralmila and the Tiger both rested their heads on their paws in apparent weariness with expressions of worry and fear while Morrible sat back in her chair. There was a wide grin on her overly made-up face as she tapped her fingers together—the very picture of scheming evil.

Inside the chamber Nanny had wiped some of the blood and grime off the babe and wrapped it in a blanket.

"Congratulations dear, it's a boy." She said to her charge as she held out the precious bundle to her. The Green girl pushed herself up to see her son, a look of pure awe on her face.

"Lirr. His name is Lirr." She half-sobbed-half-laughed as she reached up to touch his tiny face. She'd never seen anything so beautiful. Suddenly she gasped as a now-familiar pain hit her

"What the hell?" she growled tearfully through clenched teeth "The baby's _been_ born!" Nanny felt her heart land somewhere in the pit of one of her stomachs. Elphaba was already exhausted and her body was reaching its limit if it wasn't already there…She gulped and handed the child to Chistery. She knew he wouldn't drop him.

"I think…Dear, I think we are looking at twins." The Goat said. Elphaba groaned and collapsed back against the pillows. Just then two of the Guards burst through the door.

"What is going on?" one of them asked when they saw the Witch's hand fisting in the sheets again in obvious discomfort.

"Twins." The Goat said by way of explanation. The Captain raised an eyebrow, but looked over to where the other baby was being held by Chistery.

"Take that one to Madame Morrible."

"NO!" Elphaba screamed, "Leave my son alone! NO!" at first she was ignored as one of the soldiers took Lirr roughly from the winged monkey, both the baby and Chistery making a racket all on their own. Elphaba started to sit up, but Nanny Goat gently pushed her back before stepping in the soldiers' path just as the Press Secretary stepped through the door. The soldier struck the old Goat and sent her sprawling but that didn't deter her.

"We've had this conversation. She doesn't need to waste her strength. At this point she could _die_." Nanny told them firmly before lowering her voice to a hiss and looking round at Morrible "Then what will your precious Wizard say?"

The Press Secretary raised a penciled eyebrow and glanced over at Elphaba before nodding to the officers. They backed off and left the baby alone.

"Lirr…" Elphaba whispered feverishly

"Hush Dearie, he's here. He's here. Now don't fret, you need to save your strength."

She was certainly right.

After a time the Press Secretary was got impatient.

"What is taking so long?" Morrible demanded. Elphaba's sobs and screams of sheer agony were growing quieter as she weakened, but still there. "Go and see." She barked at a nearby officer.

"Yes mam." He stuck his head in obediently. When he stepped back he snapped to attention to report "The _Goat_ told me to tell you that it is a 'breech' and that the Witch needs herbs and bandages."

"She'll have them." Morrible said coolly. She was still going to win either way. If Elphaba died, than the babes would be without such an influence and would serve the Wizard and herself unquestioningly. And if the Witch lived, well the Wizard might get his Vizier after all…

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"Nanny!" Elphaba whispered as she groped in the air for the collar of the Goat's dress. When she found it her fingers barely seemed to have the strength to grip it. Her face was such a pale green it was nearly white with blood loss and exhaustion, sweat making her hair cling to her scalp. "Nanny, promise me something."

"Anything Dearie." The Goat said as she wiped the hair that was clinging to her charges face out of her eyes.

"These children…please—please don't let the Wizard get it! Promise me they will be protected!"

The storm outside picked up its pace. The wind howled and banged against the shutters, the lightening cracked and the thunder boomed, making the Goat jump slightly.

"I will, but we have to save you first. The child is what we call a breech birth. You are feeling so much pain because—"

"If it's a choice between me and the baby," Elphaba interrupted, "Promise me that you will save the innocent one. Save the child. Promise me!"

"Alright, alright. I promise."

A Few minutes later the second baby finally emerged and started to cry feebly, its wail all but drowned out by the crack of lightning and booming thunder outside along with the louder sounds her brother made. Again Nanny brought the infant around to her mother. The green girl managed to smile weakly and lifted her hand to try and touch the beautiful, creamy face. Nanny bent a little more so that she could manage it.

The child wasn't green. Neither of them was, which was a relief for Elphaba.

"It's a girl." Nanny whispered quietly. Elphaba couldn't focus any more after that—her body went completely limp and her head lolled to the side weakly in the direction of her babies.

She was dying…just like her mother. She would close her eyes and never wake up…that was what she thought anyway. Summoning her willpower she managed to wheeze out a few carefully chosen last words to her offspring

"Mamma loves you…" and then to no one in particular "Take care of them…"

Then everything faded to black as she passed out completely.

Nanny Goat quickly checked Elphaba's vitals. She was alive, yes, but barely. Automatically the midwife stuffed the towels between the green woman's legs to stem the flow of blood that was emptying out of her and staining the twisted and tangled white sheets crimson.

Now with that taken care of, she had another problem: How to take care of the babes. The infants were lying in a basket, side by side and already grasping each other the way they had in the womb. Now this was tricky…she wouldn't be able to keep the boy away from them; they already knew that he was alive and quite healthy but the girl…

She was smaller then her brother and her birth had quite frankly been dangerous to both her mother AND her. **_But_** if one of them were to escape, it would _have_ to be her. Nanny bit her lip indecisively. This went against all her better judgement as a healer yet…there was something about this child…Quickly she made her mind up and lifted the little girl out of the basket and wrapped her in additional, thicker blankets before thrusting the newborn at Chistery along with a bottle of milk that she had kept on hand in case Elphaba had been unable to nurse after the birth for some reason or another.

"Take the youngest child and hide it. They don't know if it lives yet. Give her the milk and get more from the next Cow or female Goat you can!" she ordered, pushing the winged monkey to the window and practically throwing him out into the air. He let out a howl of surprise and indignation but beat his wings powerfully and was soon airborn, still cradling the newborn gently. Chistery looked over his shoulder at his beloved Elphaba and then down at the whimpering baby. He held the child closer to him and then sped off in the direction the Goat pointed.

"Take care of her Chistery." She breathed. She then had to hurry to get everything ready for the second part of her plan.

She had just barely finished when the people waiting outside the room like vultures lost patience and burst through the door, fronted by Morrible. They grabbed the Goat by the horns and twisted them painfully, forcing her to her knees with a pained bleat.

"Well? Where are they?" the Press Secretary snarled at the Goat as she put her hooves to her horns and bleated painfully.

"The boy is in the basket." Nanny replied.

"And the girl?" Morrible demanded. When the Goat didn't answer immediately her horns were given a cruel yank "_And the girl_?"

"It-it didn't make it."

The Older Witch's eyes narrowed, but then looked over to where the green girl lay motionless

"What about the Witch?"

"She's alive, but exhausted, drained, ill. She's too weak to nurse." Nanny cried, her head throbbing from her horns down at the yanking and twisting. After a few moments Morrible threw her captive to the ground and straightened. This didn't make a huge difference in her height but she seemed to think so.

"Very well. We shall wait until she wakes, and then we shall go to the emerald city." She said, "For now, I shall simply contact the Wizard."

_**Okie Dokie, mammothly long chapter, but if I'd cut it in half, the intermediate chapter would have been a little slow. So, hopefully it wasn't too bad and please tell me what you think and review. I will reply to reviews next chapter I think...REVIEW!**_


	3. Prologue Part 3

Disclaimer: Not mine. So sad.

**Alright, so this is the last part of the prologue. The next chapter starts on Part 1.**

Introduction Chapter 3.

Elphaba didn't regain consciousness for 2 days after the birth. Liir was teleported away the following morning with Nanny Goat to the Emerald City around the same time that a group of guards headed away with their Animal prisoners. They would have to take the long way as Morrible was not powerful enough to transport that many.

In the meantime, the Weather Witch remained, waiting like a vulture for her quarry to awaken. Therefore, when Elphaba finally opened her eyes she looked around blearily to find guards in her room and Morrible sitting in a chair by the bed, watching her. The green Girl recoiled from her ex-headmistress.

"Ah, the sleeping sorceress finally returns to the land of the living." The older woman said in that annoying false croon of hers.

"Where are my children? What have you done with them?" Elphaba demanded, her voice rising with each word. She started to bolt into a sitting position only to have the two closest Guards each grab one of her wrists with one hand and a shoulder with the other to push her back down and restrain her. She struggled against their grip to no avail.

"Easy there my dear, you aren't supposed to rush all this—Oh quiet down already! Your whelp is in the Emerald City with the Wizard. The second didn't survive." At these words Elphaba stilled her movements and looked at the toady woman with horror, disbelief and heartbreak

"You killed her!" she breathed in horror. Morrible raised an eyebrow and stood, walking around the bed like a predator circling her prey. She knew the green woman was watching her warily and enjoyed it.

"No. Actually it is a shame that the second child died—we could have used them both to great advantage."

"You're disgusting." The younger witch snarled, her gaze clearly wishing the fish-like woman a long, drawn out and painful death. The Weather Witch whirled around. Just when Elphaba thought she couldn't look any more revoltingly smug…

"Let her go boys." The press secretary ordered. The two officers released their captive who pushed herself up with a struggle and rubbed her wrist cautiously, never taking her eyes off Morrible.

"Get up." Her former headmistress commanded. Elphaba ground her teeth stubbornly and didn't move. The older witch narrowed her eyes and gave the guards a sharp hand signal, prompting them to seize the young woman by the arms, drag her out of bed and over to her former teacher roughly. The shorter of the two women enjoyed having this rebellious pupil of hers at her mercy. She grabbed Elphaba's chin and forced the young woman to look her in the eye.

"So what happens now?" the young woman asked coldly. Her former headmistress smiled

"We are going to be doing a bit of travelling. You're off to see the Wizard…again." The fat little witch told her, releasing her grip on her captive's face.

"I will **not** see him again!" the green witch snarled

"You will **not** have a choice. Do you really think you could fight us now?" Morrible asked her. Elphaba shook her head a little in denial that all this could actually be happening before she closed her eyes in defeat and hung her head, her long hair forming a black curtain over her face. The silence of her prisoner brought a cruel smile to the squat witch's face as she summoned a black cloak "Come now, hurry up. We're already late!"

Their captive was in no hurry to comply; in fact she didn't seem to be making much movement at all but the two soldiers were eager to obey orders. They threw the cloak over her slender shoulders and then dragged her over to the Press Secretary who replaced their grip on one of her arms before waving her wand in a wide circle above her head.

Elphaba was surprised when the two of them were teleported. She hadn't thought the witch had the power to do so...there must have been a magical Portal nearby that she could hook onto or something. With a flash of smoke similar to the one she herself had used to get to Munchkinland they were standing in the Wizard's chamber. The green girl didn't much care though. She was weak on her feet and her head lolled forward and to the side a little as though she couldn't find the strength or will to even try and hold it up.

The wailing of a baby brought Elphaba out of her exhausted stupor and she suddenly looked up to see the wizard (out in the open) holding a bundle and cooing at it. Her eyes went wide and her breath caught in her throat as her heart thudded in her chest to the point where she thought it might pop right out. The world narrowed down to that precious little creature in the arms of (one of) her most hated opponents. In the back of her mind the young woman registered that apart from herself and Morrible there was a Goat in an elaborate cage in the corner, though with her son in such apparent peril, she wasn't able to focus on Nanny very much. The Goat understood completely. What she didn't like was how her friend looked physically at the moment…

"What a strong little boy we have here!" the Wizard said to the two witches. There were several moments of silence before the green girl finally said something

"What are you going to do with us?" Elphaba demanded, struggling to keep her voice steady. She longed to go up to the old fraud and snatch her and Fiyero's child from his grip but Morrible's hand at her arm prevented it. Besides, she felt almost too dizzy to stand, let walk or fight. She started to shiver from agitation as well as cold and said nothing.

The Wizard looked up at her, noticing (like Nanny) the oddly pale tint to her normally emerald skin, the dark circles under her eyes, the way that Morrible was practically supporting all of her weight even though the Press Secretary herself hadn't seemed to have noticed it yet…

"I'm going to extend my offer one more time." He told her "Join me. Be my Magic Grand Vizier! Would it really be so bad? You'd have all the finest luxuries, an adoring public…and I would personally make sure that this little bundle of joy is protected." He motioned to the baby. His rebellious quarry looked from her son to him and then back to the baby again with a swallow.

"And…if I refuse?" Elphaba challenged, swaying slightly. She wasn't holding up very much of her weight, leaning on Morrible since she couldn't pull away from her iron grip at the moment. The freezing room felt as though it were spinning around her wildly and it was becoming difficult to concentrate—difficult but not impossible for someone with such an iron will and she knew this would be important.

The Wizard's face fell at her question.

"Then I will have you thrown in jail and you will never see your son again…But Elphaba, you have to understand that that is the _last_ thing I want. I want our little family to be _together_." The Wizard replied, looking into the baby's face and then at the green-skinned Witch. Glinda had brought him the bottle she'd picked up, having recognised it.

Now that he knew the truth, he could see it. She had his straight nose, and he could see the shape of his sister's face in hers. He could also see Melenna in her. She hadn't gotten the red hair obviously, but she had the height of the Thropp line.

"You left that little green bottle of yours the last time we met, and your roommate was kind enough to tell us that it was your mother's—Elphaba? Elphaba!" he exclaimed as the green woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she crumpled to the floor. Nanny also cried out her name as the Witch passed out and Morrible stepped back from the green woman. Elphaba's breath came in rattling rasps and she was shivering madly.

"What-what's the matter with her?"

"What do you think?" The Goat yelled at them, not caring about the consequences of speaking out at this point "She already had a fever when she went into labour and the birth weakened her! That's before you take the blood loss and physical trauma from the breech into account, never mind the traveling so soon after! What did you expect her to run a marathon? Aww!"

The midwife was cut off when Morrible hissed and made a slashing motion with her wand, creating a deep cut in the Goat's face. This didn't immediately shut her up though

"At least get a doctor in for her!"

"Animals should be—" the carp-like woman started

"Morrible if we want our Grand Vizier we don't have time!" The Wizard exclaimed, saying one of the first intelligent things of his life as he put the baby in a crib and leapt back into his machine to summon a physician to the chamber. Three medics arrived promptly and rushed to the crumpled figure on the floor, checking her vital signs and murmuring to eachother in worried tones.

"Has…has she given birth or something?" one of them muttered

"Sir…" another spoke up "She's…her skin…is she…"

**JUST ENSURE THAT SHE RECIEVES THE BEST OF CARE.** The Wizard boomed from his giant head.

"Yes sir." The head doctor said with a salute as he and his two comrades unfolded a portable stretcher and lifted their patient onto it, carrying her out gently.

"Make sure that she has a private, guarded room!" Morrible called after them. Again they nodded curtly.

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Elphaba's recovery was—as Nanny had predicted—difficult. As she had during the birth of her twins, she slipped in and out of delirium, but this time her fever was higher and violent shudders wracked her thin frame. Her lips died and cracked easily and she couldn't hold down anything, not even water. She often called for Fiyero, but even more often begged for her children, something that broke the heart of the blonde who was standing outside of the door when she was first brought in. She didn't move from that spot for hours.

Listening to her friend's cries of pain and pleas for her loved ones was the most difficult thing Glinda had ever had to hear. She choked back a sob when her green friend once again started moan feverishly from behind the door. Finally Glinda had had enough. She practically threw open the door and strode in, much to the disgruntlement of the physician. She was not to be put off however. Elphaba had been her best friend and Glinda had not acted as such, slandering her publically in order to further her own ambitions, inadvertently betrayed her to the Wizard and to the same degree helped bring about Nessarose's demise. She'd given away the last keepsake of the Witch of the East and given them to her ditzy murderess before sending her on to the Wizard, who would undoubtedly have sent the child to do what he had been unable to accomplish...

After that the Witch of the north rarely left her friend's side, even when there was smell and mess involved. She did not remain there all night but did stay all through the day, even bringing a lunch with her even if she didn't eat much of it. She brought her flowers once or twice and also the oils that she had liked so much when they were in Shiz together. She would help the doctors that came in or even just sit and talk to her sometimes, hoping to communicate just how sorry she was.

Elphaba spent most of her time in a deep, drugged sleep. Even the time that she was awake it was only really a semi-conscious state during which Glinda would help her to drink some water or go to the bathroom. Over the course of those next few days, however, Glinda saw emerald colour return to her friend's skin and heard the rattling sound fade from her breath until her breathing was quiet and normal. Her temperature went down and she started to keep her broth down. She was on her way to recovery.

Finally after nearly 4 days the green witch opened her eyes fully. She quickly shut them again as the light burned at her eyes. She was more cautious as she opened them again, squinting slightly. Where was she? What had happened? Suddenly memories of Fiyero's capture and the twins and Morrible came flooding back to her all at once and she bolted into a sitting position with a gasp—an action that made her grimace as one hand flew to her stomach and other to her head. Her movement caused someone to stir and she looked around to see a mop of blonde curls slumped over a chair.

"Glinda?" she whispered. The figure looked up at her slowly, as though she were cautious to believe her ears. "Is that you?"

"Oh Elphie!" Glinda cried and flung herself at her friend, hugging her tightly. "You had me terrified!"

"Where am I?" she asked weakly when Glinda loosened the choke hold she had on her. The blonde leaned back from the hug and started to play with a few strands of Elphaba's long unruly tresses uncomfortably.

"You're in a Hospital in the Emerald City, remember?" she asked in a forcedly perky voice with an equally strained smile on her lips. She wouldn't meet her friend's eye. This was all her fault…

"The Emerald City?" Elphaba repeated numbly, her eyes going wide. "No…No!" she put her head in her hands before suddenly whipping her head round to look at Glinda again.

"Liir! And my daughter…Lurline I haven't even named her yet and…" Another flash of memory hit her and her face fell in horror "…Morrible. Sweet Oz what have they done with them? Where are they? _Where are my children_?" Elphaba cried as she started to try and get out of bed only to have Glinda grab her firmly by the shoulders and push her back down. It was a struggle, Elphaba's maternal rage giving her drained and exhausted body surprising strength and Glinda had to throw her weight over the Witch to keep her down

"Oh stop it! _Will you calm down already_! You are going to RUIN my dress! Do you really think this is going to change anything? You'll just hurt yourself and then what will you do?" she huffed in annoyed tone. Somehow her words made it through to Elphaba and the witch stilled. The Witch of the North released her and stood, looking a little dishevelled. To the green woman's surprise and trepidation, she didn't immediately concern herself with her appearance and instead looked at her friend with such heartbreak and sympathy…

"Your son, Lirr, is fine...he's just fine! He's with the Wizard—who has been taking _wonderiffic_ care of him—but Elphie," already the green witch was shaking her head in denial and Glinda reached out to touch her shoulder "The little girl, she-she…Elphie she didn't make it."

Elphaba shook of her hand and moved back from her

"Elphie, I know you don't want to believe me right now, but I'm _so_ sorry. Truly, I am. But your son is _safe_! I promise!" Glinda said, meaning every word and waiting for the reaction. She expecting yelling, screaming, tears…or something else that was loud, hurt and angry. However, none of that came. What she got instead though, if anything, was worse. The Green girl looked at her for several long moments, during which the blonde could almost see something die inside of her friend before Elphaba turned away and lay back down without a sound. Tears started to stream down the blonde's face and for a long pause the 'Good' Witch's stifled sobs were the only sounds. Funny that she was the only one crying…even though Elphaba was practically radiating pain and emptiness.

"My son..." the green woman murmured after several minutes "Lirr, he's safe?"

"Yes." Glinda nodded emphatically with a sniffle.

"Good…good. As long as he is alright…doesn't matter what happens to me if he's okay." she murmured "But…I'll never see him again, will I? The Wizard and Morrible have taken him away. They'll never let me near him…I've lost everything…" and with that she fell silent. Nothing Glinda said or did prompted any kind of reaction. She talked to her straight forwardly, said the proper sympathetic phrases, begged, pleaded, raged and outright demanded that she speak but nothing worked. After a while the Witch of the North left with a promise that she would return the next day.

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The 'Good Witch' was true to her word. She visited every day.

Elphaba didn't eat, didn't drink, didn't seem to react as she grieved for her lover, her daughter and her sister and pined for her son and freedom. She didn't even seem to care about anything.

One day when Glinda visited the Green woman in her room. This time Elphaba was huddled at the small window, looking outside with her long, slender fingers lightly touching the glass pane. She gazed outside with glazed eyes that didn't seem to see anything. A line of untouched trays of food riddled the floor from where they had been shoved under the door. Glinda sighed and took her usual seat.

"Well are you going to talk to me today?" she demanded, trying a different approach from before. Elphaba still acted as though she didn't hear her.

"This moping about won't get you anywhere." Still no answer. Maybe if she could get her arguing…She stood up and started to pace slowly the way Dr. Dillamond used to when giving a lecture.

"Alright, well then, I think it's only fair to tell you that I think Toto is the closest thing to an Animal that there has ever been, Nessa's shoes look fantastic on Dorothy and they _never_ would have fit you, your father never did a very good job on munchkinland and _you_ need to wear more a lot more pink."

No answer. Not a response of any kind. The other witch let out a frustrated growl. If mention of the annoying little dog, the shoes, Elphaba's least favourite colour and her idiotic father didn't provoke a response, Glinda didn't know what would.

"Look, Elphie." She began again after a few minutes of silence, "I know things seem bleak now—and I know you have always been steadfastly against the Wizard, but life here isn't so bad you know. With the Wizard's support you can stop running, stop hiding! You can sleep in a real bed instead of a cave somewhere, you can eat regular meals, you can even work on your magic with full backing of the administration! And...and your son could grow up in a safe place with his mother to guide and love him. All you have to do is say yes! Think about that." She said before walking out the door. Why was she so damn stubborn? Everything would be so much easier for her if she would just submit! She could have people cheering her name in fanfare instead of fear, she could be universally loved! She could be rich and beautiful…she could have everything! Glinda would be doing her a favour if she could convince her…

So why did helping to coerce Elphaba feel so…dirty?

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The next day the normally bubbly blonde returned again in the evening to find an untouched plate of food shoved under the door so roughly and carelessly that the small cup of water had over turned and spilled and the food on the plate was scattered over the floor. It was the first time she had taken a good look at it too.

Now that the green witch was out of danger it seemed that they thought it no longer necessary to give her any quality of sustenance. The bread was mouldy, the soup smelled foul and the water itself had something in it. She blanched at the state of it. It was the first day she hadn't been there when it was brought in and she now saw that was a mistake. They were treating Elphie like a convict! She knew that none of the guards would dare touch the Witch of the West, but that didn't stop them from throwing insults and making obscene remarks was thought she couldn't hear them. She decided to make sure from then on that the food Elphaba received was good. It didn't really make much of a difference though. She still didn't touch it, remaining in her catatonic state. But still, Glinda went every day.

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After about a week of this, Glinda was walking out of the infirmary when Madame Morrible stuck her head out of an office. The Weather Witch had received rather annoying news just a few minute earlier. Those stupid Animals, the Tiger and the Bear had both escaped their captors. This had annoyed her, but not much more then that. The biggest prize, the green fountain of magical might they had been most ardently pursuing, was already secured.

"Ah Miss Glinda!" Morrible said with that insidious smile of hers as the blonde walked by her. The press secretary hustled and bustled to catch up to her "I hear you have been in to see the Wicked Witch."

"Don't call her that!" Glinda snapped, taking Morrible aback at the ferocity of her demand.

"Very well, but the Wizard will see you now, maybe this will stop you making such a fuss!" The middle-aged woman replied, motioning to the door leading to the wizard's chamber. Glinda's eyes narrowed but she nevertheless stalked off to the secret door to the chamber, slamming it behind her.

"Ah, hello Glinda!" The Wizard said as he turned from the little crib in which Lirr was lying. What was with him and this baby? Nanny Goat was in the Cage with several of the winged monkeys that had been caught (though there was still no sign of Chistery). No doubt she was the one doing most of the dirty work with the infant.

"How is Elphaba doing?" he asked

"Terrible!" the blonde snapped as she crossed her arms angrily "She's out of the fever but she's like a corpse! She hasn't eaten in days, won't drink unless you force it down her throat...Are you happy? You've taken everything from her! She thinks she's never going to see her son again! And do you have any idea how sadistic it was to—"

"Well that's nonsense. Of course she can see this little tyke again. I wouldn't dream of separating a child from its parent. After all, I was and I didn't even know it." The Wizard cut her off mid-sentence.

"What are you…" Glinda began but trailed off when she saw the green bottles standing side by side on the table. One was unmistakably Elphaba's—old and worn from all these years but the other looked brand new and unused and the design was identical!

"What are those bottles?" she asked, "I recognise them. You offered me a drink from one, and the other one is Elphaba's mother's—the one that I gave you…" she trailed off then swore in a very unladylike manner

"You figured it out!" The Wizard exclaimed with a grin "You know I think Morrible underestimates you."

"She's _yours_?" Glinda breathed in horror. "She's not Governor Frexbar's…she's _yours_?"

"Yes she is it seems." The wizard replied as he put the baby down and walked over to the cage that held Nanny captive. He unlocked and opened it, dragging her out and pointing to the baby. The Goat shuffled over, dragging a metal that was shackled to her foot as she went. She picked up the infant and took him to the table to change his diaper, thus proving Glinda's theory correct; Nanny was doing the dirty work.

"It turns out that I am officially a father, apparently I have been for more than 20 years, isn't it wonderful? A few weeks ago neither of us had anyone in the world and now we have each other isn't that right little guy? Say hi to Grandpa, _hi _to grandpa, say HI to grandpa…" he babbled to the baby.

At first Glinda was too shocked to react. She stood opening and closing her mouth like the fish that Morrible so resembled before finally sputtering

"B-but…you can't tell her now! Sweet Oz, no! It would destroy her!" the seedy little man looked a little disappointed, but supposed he had to agree. If his daughter was starving herself at the moment, who new what she would try to do to herself if he told her the truth before winning her over? Now that he knew who she was, he didn't want her to die.

"Very well, we'll wait. But I guess it's time for little Liir to go and meet his mother." The Wizard said.

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"Elphie?" Glinda said as she came in quietly later that evening. In her arms, wrapped in a blanket was the little baby boy. Her friend was lying on the cot with her back to the door, staring at the silvery light given off by the rising moon. The blonde wasn't deterred by the stony silence and slowly entered, her skirts swishing with every step.

"Elphie, there's someone here who wants to see you."

As if on queue Liir started to whimper. Upon hearing this, the green woman stiffened before slowly sitting up and turning towards the sound. Her eyes zoned in on the squirming bundle in Glinda's arms. Her friend approached her and held the other woman's son out to her. It was the first time she had ever held him. Elphaba's eyes were shining with tears as she carefully (if a bit awkwardly) took her child from her friend and looked into his face with numb wonder, running one of her long, slender fingers down the infant's cheek.

Lirr squirmed a little more and reached for his mother's face with his tiny hands. She smiled and let out a strained laugh even as tears streamed down her cheeks. She held him close and kissed his forehead as she rocked him back and forth and held him close to her.

Glinda smiled slightly as she slowly backed out of the room. Maybe now Elphaba would return to her old, fiery self, or at least a little closer to it. The silent catatonic Elphaba had been more terrifying to her friend than anything the Wizard had put out about her. Just as she began to close the door she heard something issue from Elphaba's lips that sounded something like "Thank you."

**Alrighty, so reviewers...**

**Just Me: **Ooh, strong response (I think/hope, right?), me likey! Yeah, I can see how it would bother you with the whole separation thing...but its kinda of an important part of the story. No worries, the updates will be quick and regular. How was this part?

**Maeline: **No no no, Boq is definitely still the Tin Man. Its important later as you'll see. The Wicked Witch of the East thing happened before Elphaba was reunited with Fiyero so that is before my fic even starts. In relation to that, the two sisters did not part on good terms so while she was definitely still willing to rush to her sister's aid in times of peril, it didn't look like they would be getting together for catch-up time without an emergency any time soon. Not much really happened during those 5 months or so, at least not much really worth mentioning so I skipped it ahead.

**Maybe-I-Should-Write-Something: **Updates will be regular with this particular fic since it just basically being edited with a few small changes. The entire first part is pretty much done right now actually.

**WickedWriterOfTheWest: **I always like it when people enjoy my plot twists! Please keep reading and reviewing!

**lizziemagic: **Sorry, that was a typo with Fiyero's name there. As to whether or not I've seen Wicked...well...okay, guilty confession time. Iwatcheditonline! I KNOW it's so bad! But in my defense it was a show that had been recorded like 4 years before I saw it and it looked like there was a full house so I don't think that they really lost any money...

It IS however, coming to my hometown within the next few months, I'm so excited! Make no mistake, I _WILL _see that show! I am one determined (if perhaps slightly obsessed) fan!

**Anna Marie Raven: **Thank you! I love it when people decribe my stories as interesting, I like to think I'm original. I'm also glad that you find the quality consistent so far.

**Sera: **I'm glad you like it so far, reviews like yours always brighten my day! Don't worry, there is going to be PLENTY more. This is actually quite a long fic, but the updates will be very regular. If you tell me where your stories are I'd be glad to read them (You aren't signed in for the review)


	4. Part 1 chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine. So sad.

**Alrighty, not quite as many reviews last time as the first two chapters, but its still better then the first time round that I posted this, please keep it up.**

**This next chapter is skipping ahead about 15 years. There isn't that much in Liir's childhood that is of huge importance and the bits that are will be adressed through flash-back sequences. It it is a little slow I appologize, just trying to sort of catch up the audience with what is going on at this point. There will be some drama in the next one though (not soap-opera type, but hopefully interesting for you guys)...yeah, can't think of anything else to say other then to request your continued feedback once again. Answers to reviews at the end of the chapter.**

**_Part 1 Chapter 1._**

**_15 years later_**

High up in the tallest tower of the Emerald Palace a woman sat reading a large, ancient book. No one else could read the Grimmerie like she could; her eyes skimming across the page like it was any other book, innately knowing what the runes said despite the fact that it was in another, ancient language. It was late (or rather early as it was past midnight) but the green woman had found herself unable to sleep. She was haunted by dreams of a Goat, a certain Vinkus Prince and a nameless little baby girl.

It's not like the Witch was bothering anyone. She was a fairly solitary creature; sometimes locking herself away in her little tower office for days at a time. Her books were all here, as were her quills, papers and inks. Pushing a loose strand of hair from her face and throwing her long black braid over her shoulder she looked at the stack of reports that were neatly piled at the far corner of her desk. Well at least her insomnia had proved productive.

A pull at the skirt of her brown nightshift made her look down to see an old winged monkey huddled by her side, a glass of milk in his hand. He straightened a little and handed her the glass with a slight whimper.

"Thank you Chistery." She said. The monkey had found her three years after she had been taken to the Emerald City. He'd just sort of turned up one morning and had then elected to stay with her and the other flying monkeys that had not been killed while being rounded up and shipped back to their old prison. The family of primates had altered considerably over the years as babies had been born and the older ones died. Chistery was currently the oldest of them—the only one left from those she had originally mutated with her botched spell.

Elphaba gave him a small, grateful smile as she accepted the drink from him and took a sip, setting it on the corner of the table by her candle. Her paper was liquid proof, so she wasn't worried about it tipping over. She looked back down at Chistery and pushed her chair back from her desk so that the old monkey could hop into her lap creakily and allowed him to hug her. He sometimes had fits of anxiety like this where he just needed reassurance, particularly after he had not been well. The monkeys were all under her protection, and no one dared go up against the Magical Grand Vizier. She had been defeated in almost every way in her opinion, but one thing she held onto fiercely was that any animal or Animal that sought her protection would not come to harm while in her presence. She had not been able to do much more.

Elphaba couldn't recall the exact moment when she had given up precisely. She had made three escape attempts with Liir over the years; two when he was a baby and one when he was barely more than a toddler. Each had been foiled with precision and diligence and she had spent time in the dungeons after each. She had first been cowed into submission by subtle threats to her son's life from Morrible and the Wizard. She could have taken anything they could throw at her except that. After a few years she had just given up. Now she worked for the Wizard as his Magical Grand Vizier which was, ironically, what she had always wanted when she was a girl.

They had never found her broom in a partial raid of Kiamo Ko, nor had her hat been recovered. She could have replaced either but never had. She was still pretty much flying solo in her cause, but she was no longer flying free. Therefore she no longer flew. She missed it of course—oh how she loved the feel of the wind whipping over her face and through her cloak and skirts, combing through her hair almost like a lover.

Nowadays she contented herself with the view from her tower and watching her precious Monkeys. Setting Chistery down she sighed.

"What happened all those years ago old friend? Where did you go? Why did you come back?" she asked him distantly, not expecting an answer. None of the monkeys had the vocabulary of Dr. Dillamond, but Chistery was the only on who had absolutely no speech whatsoever. A knock at the door brought her out of her musings. She ignored the knock, suspecting the identity of her visitor immediately.

"Elphaba," said that irritatingly cheerful, smooth-talking voice which was accompanied by another set of knocks. "I know you're in there."

How had she _ever_ looked up to this man? Grinding her teeth she muttered a simple spell and flicked her wrist. The door opened and the seedy old man hobbled in.

After Liir had started to learn how to talk the Wizard had decided that he wanted to be able to spend time with his grandson and had spread the notion that he could take on many forms and faces, including that of an old man that was a fatherly—or grandfatherly—figure to the people. He still used his machines and smoke to uphold his supernatural illusion when it suited him though.

"Still up at this late or should I say early hour?" he asked brightly

"I could ask you the same thing." Elphaba replied coldly as she sat back down and picked up her quill. Perhaps he might go away if it looked like she was busy.

"Oh I wasn't that tired." He said cheerfully. Why was he in such a good mood at this hour? It was ridiculous. He was also not taking the hint.

"Please go away, you're bothering the Monkeys." Elphaba said offhandedly as she skimmed through a report, the Grimmerie now closed. After a few moments when he still hadn't moved she set down the paper and folded her hands on top of it with a sigh of annoyance. "Alright, I'll bite. _Why_ are you here? You know that strenuous activity makes your joints act up and it's nearly 7 flights just from the next tower."

"Can't a man come and check on his daughter?" the Wizard inquired. He had tried valiantly to form some kind of bond with her and her son over the years, though his success with the boy was insurmountably greater than with his green child. She refused to call him 'father' and while she seemed to have grudgingly grown to somewhat care about him, she still didn't particularly like him. Nothing could change the atrocities that he had condoned and/or committed in her eyes. Chistery was now huddled behind her chair, looking around it fearfully. He had never forgotten what it was to be in that cage before Elphaba had freed him.

"So," the Wizard began "Liir leaves for the Academy in a week." He said at an attempt at conversation with his somewhat prickly daughter.

"Yes." The green woman replied shortly.

"I know I'll miss him."

"As will I."

"Ah, but he'll be fine. He's a smart lad, and good-looking. He's got his grandfather's charm too…" Elphaba did not respond to that. Liir did _not_ look like his grandfather in any way. Granted, the Wizard was quite old now, but she still didn't see how it would ever really have been much of a factor. No. The dominant genes in her sons DNA were definitely his fathers. He was the spitting image of Fiyero except for his black hair, though even then it was only the colour he had gotten from his mother. The texture and the way it fell on his face were just like the Vinkus prince.

The boy's father was a painful topic for the Vizier; one that she never spoke of, not even to her son in spite of his constant questions.

"So," he said, making another valiant attempt at conversation "It's looking like we might be seeing wedding bells in our dear Glinda's future."

The scratching of quill on paper stilled at that.

"You and Morrible would like that very much, wouldn't you?" she asked coldly. Elphaba did not care for her best friend's boyfriend. He was a creepy old man and he didn't treat her right. The whole relationship was a sham covering up what was essentially an arranged marriage. The Wizard shrugged

"Well, sir Chuffery is a rich man. It's always good to cement alliances…you don't approve?"

Elphaba allowed her stony silence to speak for her and resumed her apparent work. She continued to ignore her father and boss, answering his questions with short, straight forward, single statement answers. After a time he sighed. She was clearly not in the mood for conversation at the moment. Over the years he had gotten to know her as much as she had let him, or at least enough to know that it was no good to try and get a decent conversation with her when she was like this.

Upon noticing him head for the door Elphaba muttered a spell and with a wave of her hand a carpet sped up the floors through the air for the old man to seat himself on. He grinned at her and nodded with gratitude as he sat himself down on the brightly coloured rug which then lifted itself into the air. It would take him down the long flights within moments and get him out of Elphaba's hair and space.

Once he was gone the green woman got to her feet and walked to the large window. As she stared out at the starry sky her mind filled with those she had loved and lost. Reaching into her nightgown she pulled out the fine gold chain and the pendant that had never left her neck in 15 years. She stared at it silently for several moments before closing her slender emerald fingers back over the emerald-set diamond and holding it close to her heart.

Her thoughts quickly moved to the one person left that she had to hold on for. Liir was the Witch's reason for going on…even if _she_ wasn't _his_ favourite person in the world. She loved her son, but wasn't that good at expressing affection, having been shown so little of it in her own life. She also had little patience with his male teenage arrogance, particularly when his attitude towards women and Animals were concerned and other principals that his grandfather parroted. She had tried to teach him her way, but it was one voice against dozens, nay, thousands, even if she _was_ his mother. Looking at the full moon she sighed again, thinking about Fiyero and the others who had been hurt because of her; the Animal rebellion, Dr. Dillamond, Nessa, the nameless child of hers…

Little did she know that at that moment, far, far away, people were looking up at that same moon and thinking of her…

**888888888888888888888**

The teenage boy named Liir frowned in his sleep as he tossed and turned in the throes of a strangely familiar dream… …

_He was 5 years old again and on a trip with Morrible, Aunt Glinda and his mother to a place called Gilikin. All he knew about it was that it was where his Aunt Glinda was from. On the way they stopped in a village. He was tired and irritable from the long journey and was close to throwing a fit. His mother saw this and intervened immediately, kneeling down so that she was (almost) level with him. She put one hand on his shoulder and calmly explained to him that she had some work to do and that the two of them could have some quality time afterward—if he was good. _

_It was funny, he had never noticed the strange metal wristband his mother had worn at the time, but oddly enough in the dream he did. In fact, it seemed to jump out at him. It was one of the Gale Force devices to keep track of someone. His vision in the dream also zoomed into the charm at the base of her throat. It was a magic dampening charm, one that decreased the amount of magic one could use by storing magic within the jewel. The one around her neck was white—the most potent of them all and was larger then a chicken egg._

_Strange how he only noticed the significance now, in a dream. _

_While his mother was talking to someone who was all dressed up and acting important and the soldier who was supposed to be watching him was distracted, little Lirr took the opportunity to slip away and find someone or something to play with. Normally there was an ample supply of ready (if disposable) playmates on hand, but not today. Even with the hired children he didn't have any real friends that weren't imaginary though it felt like there should have been. He'd always felt as though there should have been someone else there…_

_The 5-year-old came across a pond that glittered in the sunlight. It looked so pretty that he went right up to the edge and bent over it to look into the depths and see his reflection. However, the face of a young boy only stayed for a breath of time before it shimmered and changed into that of a little girl who looked to be his age. _

_Little Lirr frowned and cocked his head slightly. He'd never seen her before…but she was somehow familiar. She was a skinny little thing with a mop of unruly light red hair and blue-grey eyes set against pale skin. _

_In the distance the little boy could hear his mother calling his name out, but for once did not react to it, so entranced by the spell of this strange pool was he. He reached out a chubby little hand to touch the surface, the girl in the reflection doing the same. He leaned a little too far over and began to loose his balance. Suddenly fear choked him as he felt himself begin to tip over… _

At that point Liir woke up with an exclamation. That was odd. He hadn't had that dream in a while. He knew what it was; it was a memory, or at least he thought so. He had been leaning over a pool like that when he was 5 years old and had nearly fallen in. He might have drowned if his mother had not somehow sensed that he was not where she had left him then hurried over to catch him before he fell. However, this was the first time he recalled anything to do with a little girl. Red hair was not something very common, neither was that shade of eye colour. Though, his mother's eyes were similar—well maybe a little more then just similar. Oh well. He never thought much into anything if he could help it. Life was painless if you were brainless. Hey! That was a good rhyme, or catch-phrase. He'd heard it before though, wasn't sure where. Aunt Glinda or someone probably. Looking over at the clock he saw that it was nearly time for him to get up anyway. However, he decided to use the excuse to sleep in a little more. So what if his carriage was leaving in two days? It wasn't like he had to do anything but pack and climb in…

"Liir! Oh Liir wait for me!" Annette Upland, (Cousin and Ward of her Ladyship Glinda the Good thank-you-very-much) cried as she spotted the young man near the carriage, waving her silk handkerchief to get his attention. He was really quite a handsome young man. He had wavy black hair and sparkling blue eyes set against a slightly tanned, completely pimple-free complexion and toned body, not to mention a stunning smile. The girl skipped up to him, leaving the luggage carriers to deal with her numerous suitcases and bags, all pink of course.

"Hello Annette!" Liir drawled in his macho, 'cool' tone, "I see we will be sharing a carriage."

"Yes. And Cousin Glinda is going to accompany us!" the blonde said excitedly. Annette was (as described by Elphaba) a Glinda clone. She secretly dyed her hair blonde and wore extravagant clothing. She idolized her cousin and Guardian. The two of them started talking, or rather flirting as the servants loaded up the carriage.

Meanwhile within the emerald Palace, the servants all stood at attention as the Vizier walked by, her black skirts flaring around her as she moved at a brisk pace. A winged monkey was only a few paces behind her. It was not often that she wandered through the streets when not on an errand for the wizard or herself. She lived a very solitary and private life, rarely making it into the papers about anything other then official Oz business and thereby remaining a very mysterious figure.

All the people of Oz really understood was that she had used her powers to save them from a Goblin invasion about 12 years back and 3 years before that she had vanquished the Wicked Witch of the West—the latter at the cost of terrible scarring. She had barely managed to escape the scene with her newborn son alive! The only way to save herself had been to cast a spell that had turned her skin green…at least, that was what Glinda the Good and the Wizard had told them and they always told the "truth".

But her skin was not something to be feared. According to the Wonderful Wizard it just confirmed that the emerald city was where she belonged after all, she was his long-lost daughter. There were many stories explaining this. Her mother had died giving birth to her after which the precious babe had been abducted by bandits; She was the daughter of a Princess who had been separated from her one true love (the Wizard) and trapped in a tower, never able to tell the girl's father of the Vizier's birth and so on and so forth. The story was one that was often told and retold and embellished with neither the Vizier nor the Wizard ever confirming or denying the various versions of their back-story.

Not even the staff knew much more then the rest of the general public other than that she was courteous to them; a rarity among the elite

The Vizier displayed this respect when she nodded to one of the staff curtly as she passed before walking out the door to the step outside the palace. She observed with a roll of her eyes that her son was once again flirting with Glinda's cousin. Upon seeing his mother Liir leapt back about a pace and a half from Annette with the look of a child who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Mother! Uh…I didn't…I thought-I didn't think I'd see you until…well later..." he sputtered, somewhat wide eyed and guilty looking. "I wasn't…we weren't…What _that_? Oh we totally weren't…flirting or anything…"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. He was so much like his father sometimes, which was a little odd considering that he had never met him.

"I find that hard to believe." She said in response to his statement with a rare (if wry) smile. Upon seeing his slightly cowed look she softened a little and reached out to lovingly brush back a few wayward black strands from his face and touch his cheek in what was becoming an increasingly rare public display of maternal care "Besides, I wanted to see you off." He started a little at that and looked up in time to see the brief flash of tenderness in her face before it was replaced by the cold nearly expressionless mask that was the face she held in public. Her hand dropped and she fixed his collar.

"Are you nearly ready?" she asked him coolly. Her son straightened and nodded

"Yes mother. The coach should be ready soon." The green woman looked over at the people labouring to load up the carriage and the two horses that looked weary at just the thought of pulling that amount of weight and then back at her son.

"You could always lend a hand Liir." She suggested half-heartedly. She was fully aware that he would refuse and be able to get away with it thanks to the Wizard. Just then Glinda rounded a corner with an older man at her heels. He was offering her flowers and jewels and speaking to her in a hushed tone. Elphaba noticed the way his body language went from pleading to intimidating and then back again within a matter of seconds as the blonde talked to him. She seemed to be trying to tell him that she was in a hurry but he wasn't taking the hint—until, that is, he saw the black clad green woman watching him like a hawk. Then he leant in and gave the Witch of the North a kiss on the cheek (which she tensed at) and then left. Glinda looked down and then seemed to compose herself before making her grand entrance.

"My don't you look positively scandilicious! You're going to break a few hearts at the academy aren't you?" Liir's godmother complimented him, though a sharp look from her friend stayed any other such comments.

"Your aunt Glinda will be going with you and Annette to see you safely there, she has business with the headmistress before going off to see the Governor of Munchkinland." Elphaba told Liir. Lirr shrugged. Glinda was always the one to go visit the Governor. Just then something occurred to him.

"Mother, aren't you from Munchkinland? Why don't you ever go conduct the dealings with the Governor?" she ignored that question, which infuriated him. She never told him anything! Not about his father, not about why she would never go to her homeland, nothing about herself! He knew so little about his own mother and it made him chafe that she expected him to do as she told him to just because she was his mother. And she was always lecturing him! As if on queue Elphaba started rolling off a list of instructions.

"Behave at school, and please don't ask for special treatment. You may be connected to powerful people, but that doesn't make you better than anyone else. Study hard, and be respectful, and Lirr?" she asked to get his attention. He rolled his eyes and slowly rolled his head around to look at her, the very picture of rebellious youth. However, her next words wiped that put-out look off his face;

"Take care of yourself." The green woman told him softly.

Elphaba rarely said the condemning words of 'I love you' which seemed to have brought disaster on her sister and her lover—but when they did escape her lips they were only ever directed at her son, though he seemed not to have noticed this. Nor had he noticed that all her lectures were on things that kept him safe and tried to keep him from becoming a spoiled brat. He had missed a great many little details over the years; little details such as the fact that just before she did something for the Wizard and Morrible that made her balk she would look over in his direction before gathering the strength to keep going, even if she was helping those she had once sworn to defeat.

Liir nodded curtly before turning to his friend and started to chat again while the last bags were being loaded on. At seeing the look in her friend's face Glinda went to stand beside her.

"Liir's a good boy, Elphie. He'll be fine. He's just at that awkward age, you know? He'll realize how much you care about him as soon as he's been away for a couple of days!"

"This isn't anything that has developed recently." The Green woman said sadly "We haven't, or rather, _I_ haven't been very good at interacting with him the past few years, but thank you anyway." Glinda nodded with a smile and turned to walk over to the carriage when Elphaba suddenly grabbed her wrist and yanked her back

"What's this?" she demanded as she pointed to one side of her friend's face. She had twice the amount of make-up then usual and that was saying something. Glinda yanked her hand out of the green woman's grasp and touched her cheek gingerly

"Oh Elphie it's nothing!" she said with one of her plastered smiles. Only Elphaba would have noticed this. Typical.

"Glinda that is not nothing! Did someone—" she cut herself off and looked in the direction of where Chuffery had been standing moments before "Glinda did he _hit_ you?"

"No! No of course not! Elphie I can _not_ do this now, I have to go." The blonde said without meeting her friend's eye as she walked down the steps to board the coach. Elphaba let her. As soon as Glinda returned she would be getting to the bottom of all this.

Just as the trio started to climb in Liir halted

"Wait a minute, aren't we going to wait for…" he trailed off as he looked around with slight confusion. No…they were all there, but it had happened again. There was supposed to be someone else there...wasn't there? He'd thought he grown out of this phase.

"Liir, everyone's here silly! Oh you always think there's supposed to be one more person then there is!" Annette giggled with a playful, weak little shove. Glinda's mouth opened and closed slightly before glancing over to see how the green woman handled this. The Vizier's face was her usual expressionless mask. Glinda supposed she had gotten used to it, though the blonde did not delude herself into thinking that her friend had ever really recovered from the losses she'd suffered that night so many years ago.

Elphaba watched her son climb into the carriage and only just remember to look back and wave half-heartedly as it drove away. She didn't know what she had expected, really. She had tried to raise a child in the stronghold of her enemy. The Wizard spoiled that boy, as did everyone else. She had been the sole disciplinarian in his childhood, though in his younger years she had been comforted in the fact that he _had_ still gone to his mother when he was frightened or sick. However, as he had gotten older, he had resented being told off more and more. When exactly their problems had started she didn't know, but while he didn't argue with her outright he seemed to avoid her and didn't talk to her very much. She supposed the fact that her bouts of self-imposed isolation had been gradually lengthening recently did not help. When she had first arrived, she had been kept under a tight guard for a couple of years, even spending some time in the dungeons after her escape attempts. Around a decade ago though, after she hadn't made an escape attempt for 2 years, she had been granted the tower room.

She hadn't spent _that _much time in it at first, just a few hours at a time. However, those couple of hours every little while turned into a couple every day, and then more then a couple of hours every day. Finally the time came when she spent three days up there with her monkeys and the Grimmerie. Her books had been moved up there slowly, as was a cot and things for the monkeys in the adjoining chambers. It was her refuge, her place to escape her cage for a while. It was also an easier way to protect her monkeys, besides, up there she had a great deal more insight on problems, as well as an entire archive of magical texts to keep her busy.

It was there, when studying these various texts along with the Grimmerie that she had discovered an ancient secret; one that had been dismissed as merely a myth or exaggeration for generations. Not even Morrible or the Wizard knew the exact details of this secret and she intended to keep it that way. As she climbed the long flights of stairs back up to her tower she summoned the grimmerie to her hands and opened it to the page she had been so interested in for quite some time. She stood with it next to the window so that the sun could lend her some more light and ran a finger under the words from that lost, ancient language. She had thought that she and the Grimmerie were the same; both one of a kind…

But it appeared that she had been wrong.

**Alright, long chapter again, but hopefully thats alright with you because most of the chapters are long as you have probably seen already. Now, my reviewers...**

**jnjluvsbooks32: **Glad you like it. Will she get her daughter back? Did the baby survive? Well, keep reading and find out (*waggles eyebrows*).

**Maybe-I-Should-Write-Something: **Do I get another high five for this one too?

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **I love it when people love my stuff. As to your question...nah I'm going to make you read. Make sure you read the next chapter carefully and you'll see that I've left you a clue about that. But read the next chapter quite carefully, its sort of mentioned in passing. Don't worry, I'm going to update it soon.

**Anna Marie Raven: **It's a good thing you like long chapters. This is a long story with long chapters in it. There were also some more little subtitles stuff here too which I hope you enjoyed. There were some little clues here too which will lead into important stuff later, did you catch them?

**lizziemagic: **Well, here's some more. There might not be the mother-son moments here, but there will be later. It's great to have you on board again as a reader and reviewer.


	5. Part 1 Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine. So sad.

Okay, I have knews that I think you, fellow Wicked fans, will definitely appreciate. (Makes uncharacteristic 'EEK!' sound and starts happy-dancing*) I"m going to see Wi-cked! On Hallowe-en! I got my tick-ets! WAHOO! I can't WAIT! I am FINALLY going to see it! YES!

Oh, and also, I've made some very slight edits to earlier chapters, very slight, not huge. But the element of the necklace will come into play again later. Usual Request: Review.

**Part 1 chapter 2 **

Glinda enjoyed the trip with her Godson and cousin, chatting with them about all sorts of rather inconsequential things. Liir pretended to merely put up with the two Gilikenese women's gossiping, though really he found it quite interesting. If it weren't for the fact that he had a reputation to uphold he might have joined right in with them.

It was fairly late and the two had just started talking about the scandalous elopement of a merchant's daughter with a dashing young Captain in the Gale Force when the carriage suddenly jolted to a stop, causing all the cards that Liir had set out to begin a game to scatter across the floor. He let out an exasperated sound and was about to get out to yell at the driver when his Godmother stopped him with restraining hand. She reached for the door herself but before she even touched the handle a dark shape slammed into the window. Annette shrieked both at the apparition and the way it caused the coach to lurch for a moment with the force of the impact and the horses to whinny in alarm. Annette let out another squeal and Lirr cried out when a dark shadow slammed into the window. Glinda remained oddly silent, though she too trembled in fear. The lights inside the coach had gone out but they could still make out a clawed paw and fangs as the creature crawled up the side of the vehicle.

Carefully the teenaged boy reached under the seat to where he knew there was a rifle hidden by the guards. He slipped the cover from it carefully and followed Glinda as she stepped out of the coach. They were on a path that led through the woods it seemed, which made it even darker. Looking up, the teenager's eyes connected with a pair of round yellow ones as the creature in the shadows perched on the roof of the vehicle. The horses seemed oddly calm now with such a large feline creature in such close proximity. One of the Guards saw it too. He quickly lifted the rifle he carried up and fired it. There was a flash of white and brown as a mid-sized Cat leapt from the carriage roof to a large branch close by with a hiss.

"Stop! For goodness sake stop!" Glinda shrieked as he fired it again, only to have the cat leap to another tree and again avoid the bullet, now in a vertical position on another tree facing downwards, head up and looking straight at them. She (for it was a very feminine creature) was definitely an Animal, not an animal. She was even wearing clothes; a leather crop and shorts with a hole in the back to accommodate her long tail. Through the little beams of light occasionally glancing her fur they could see that she was an ivory Tigress, the white making a stark contrast against the black stripes.

"STOP!" Liir yelled. Suddenly he realized that he shouldn't risk his reputation over a mere Cat! He had to think up an excuse… "If you kill her, you'll make a mess of _all_ our luggage, and then where will we be? Besides, we can't drag along the body of a Cat!"

"I cannot let that beast harm any of you, Sir Wizantier."

The guard rolled his eyes, however the Cat let out a purr-like, throaty chuckle.

"You humans are so amusingly oblivious." She purred, her accent similar to the one of the Tiger who had been Elphaba and Fiyero's companion while the green witch carried Liir. "What exactly would I want with any of you? Do I look like some kind of assassin?" she enquired as she stood and leaned against the trunk of the tree casually. The guard exchanged looks with Glinda. The Cat's ears perked a little more and she looked down at her apparel and claws, apparently rethinking her question

"Well—perhaps I might, but I'm not interested in your blood. No, no. I carry a message for the Lady Glinda Upland to pass on to her masters." The yellow gaze fell on the extravagantly dressed Witch as the Cat straightened and pointed one long, sharp claw at the Witch of the North in an almost accusatory manner. "Tell the Wizard our silence for the past years has not been out of fear or subservience as he and his courtiers would have you idiots believe. We have not given up the fight for our rights and we will no longer sit back and let you destroy our homes and peoples. When we strike, we shall strike hard!"

"Who exactly are you?" Liir demanded. The yellow eyes narrowed at him a moment

"My name is unimportant to you, yours to me on the other hand, is different story. You are Lirr Wizantier, _si_?" The young man jerked his chin up in defiance in a manner so like Elphaba…

"Who wants to know?" he challenged.

"Someone who sees that destiny is a complicated matter for you. Not what you seem, _si_?" With that she winked at them and leapt to a branch behind her, disappearing into the woods.

"What was that all about Aunt Glinda?" Liir asked as they climbed back into the coach.

"Nothing for you to worry about sweetheart." She told him lightly. Annette, who had stayed inside the coach fussed over the two of them whilst going on about how "horrifical" the whole experience was.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Liir must have fallen asleep at some point as one moment he was looking out the window at some trees going by, and the next Glinda was shaking him awake saying that they were nearly at the gates. Taking out a pocket mirror he checked and fixed his hair as well as took a moment to admire himself in the looking glass before putting it back. Annette was doing the same, in a much more exaggerated, girly way. The coach swerved a moment and then slowed to a stop. The driver jumped out of his seat and went to open the door for the occupants. People had already started to crowd around them No one seemed to notice that a girl and a Donkey had nearly been hit and had, in their scramble to get away had tripped over a curb as well as each other. The Horse that was among the horses driving the coach had though. He'd been the one to create the swerve so that they wouldn't be injured.

The poor Donkey had been carrying a large amount of packages, several of them heavy and the girl's books were now strewn all over the cobblestones. She quickly gathered as many as she could reach and then moved to help the poor Donkey, much to the latter's surprise. After a minute or two she then did something that surprised the Horse too. She got up and strode very purposely over to the crowd and somehow managed to half-slide-half-push through the crowd, right up to the Wizard's grandson. (Glinda had disappeared to go and talk with the headmistress.)

"Excuse me," She demanded sharply as she shoved someone in front of her out of the way "Who do you think you are?" Everyone in the crowd laughed out loud at her and not just for her comment, but her appearance apparently. Some were pointing out aspects of her clothing and giggling. She ignored them.

"You lot can't just speed in on some tacky, overly expensive vehicle like a bunch of maniacs, nearly run people over and then just ignore the fact that you nearly caused some serious damage or worse, laugh it off like its no big deal!" She stated in a voice that was calm, and yet ticked off at the same time. She crossed her arms and raised a challenging eyebrow as Liir got a good look at her.

The girl was tall and slender. Her bright red hair fought its braid and pins with several strands bursting out of their clips to frame her pale face. A pair of startling silver eyes was set behind a pair of old round spectacles that had tape across the nose and on one of the 'arms' that went behind her ear. Annette also looked her over from top to toe and snorted.

"Look little lady," Liir said in his most smooth-talking tone and flashed her his stunning white smile. Her eyebrow achieved an impressive angle though he didn't let it discourage him "No one was hurt. It _isn't_ a big deal. Why don't you-"

"Get a look straw-girl!" Annette snorted. "What'd you do? Hug a scarecrow?" All the others laughed. The girl uncrossed her arms and glanced down at apparel self-consciously. She was indeed dressed a little oddly, or at least old-fashioned. Her worn navy blue frock was plain and didn't quite reach her ankles and the matching jacket was just as worn out, with patches in several places as well as a similar cap. Her brown boots were sturdy, but also quite muddy. There were bits of straw sticking out of her hat as well as the arms of her jacket. Everyone seemed to be having a ball jeering and laughing at her. The girl looked a little cowed at first as she looked around at all the people having a good laugh at her expense but recovered quickly. She tossed some hair out of her face as she turned to the blonde and planted her hands on her hips.

"At least I'm capable of standing on my own two feet." She retorted coolly, indicating the girl's extremely high heels and the way she clung to Liir's arm possessively in a manner that made him look like some kind of supporting crutch.

"Now daddy's money might be able to compensate for all your shortcomings, so it may shock you to hear that _some_ of us actually have to _earn_ a living." The redhead finished off mockingly and angrily as she brandished one of her muddied textbooks with a look that could kill "Consequently we happen to need our books."

Liir couldn't come up with a comeback as he saw those silver eyes…they were so familiar. A strange look also crossed her face for a moment she made eye contact with him. Her startling silver orbs narrowed slightly and she opened her mouth as though to say something but instead closed it again and stalked off.

Annette and Liir were separated as they each went to their separate dorms to claim their private suites. Unfortunately they wouldn't be anywhere near as large as the rooms they had in the emerald city which they would undoubtedly complain about. The fact that these rooms were still twice the size of everyone else's and that they were not required to share these chambers with anyone completely escaped their notice.

Annette had already attracted a gaggle of giggling girls who were flocking around her trying to get her attention. She smiled to herself. 10 minutes on campus and she was already the most popular girl in the whole school. That had to be some kind of record!

"Oh _please_ will you let me be your roommate Ms. Annette?" several of them chorused when they arrived at the "sign in" desk. The girl from the incident with the coach was already at said desk, leaning towards the clerk with her palms on the wood. It seemed she was having some difficulties.

"…But I registered here! My name is Throular **(A.N Throw*U*Lar), **Raye Throular, though you probably have _Rhonaraye_ Throular. I received this acceptance letter for my scholarship application. Here, see?" She said, retrieving a letter from her tan satchel.

"Yes, I do. It appears that you are on our attendance list, but it seems that we did not assign you a room." the young woman at the desk said. She was a small little thing, probably another munchkinlander, (though considerably taller than any of the farming class no doubt or she wouldn't be working in such a prestigious boarding school) with dull black hair and plain brown eyes. She was dressed in a light blue suit which actually suited her rather well; though she still seemed a little…sour.

"There must be somewhere that I can bunk!" the redhead, Rhonaraye, exclaimed in exasperation

"I'm sure we'll find some arrangement." The administrator said in a cool, detached voice before rising from her seat and walking around her desk. Despite the fact that it was apparent no one was listening, she called out as though she were making an announcement to them

"There has been a clerical error that has caused Ms. Throular to not be assigned a room. Will anyone volunteer to share with her? Please raise your hands volunteers." Her voice was a dull drone that no one really paid attention to. Just then Annette twirled around and raised her hand in a flourish to show off her outfit—an action that was misinterpreted.

"Ah. How kind of you to volunteer to share your private suite, Ms. Midland." The receptionist said

"WHAT?" Annette and Rhonaraye exclaimed at the same time, the blonde practically shrieking the word and the Red-head yelling.

"No! I was most certainly NOT volunteering to share!" trilled the Gilikinese girl

"Thank Lurline for that!" the tall redhead snapped "I'd rather sleep next to the compost heap then next to your bed. The fumes probably wouldn't smell as bad as that disgusting perfume!"

"_Excuse_ me?" Annette snapped

"You're excused." Rhonaraye retorted.

"_Any_one of these people here would kill for the chance to have ME as their roommate!"

"Well then I'll save them the trouble." The redhead whipped her head around to the rest of the girls watching them, her long braid slashing the air "Who wants to switch?"

The hands of several girls shot up.

"Take your pick." The one with glasses challenged as she crossed her arms over her chest. Annette narrowed her eyes but before she could say anything they were interrupted by the administrative clerk.

"No, no, no, no, no. This will not do. The decision is final ladies. Until this can all be sorted out, you two will be roommates. Now everyone go find your dorms. The names and numbers are posted on that bulletin board." She said brusquely. When Annette looked as though she were going to start a scene the woman in the blue suit held up a hand

"I am afraid I can do no more. I am about to miss my train to Shiz, however my decision here is one that complies with the wishes of the headmistress. She sent me a note on what to do if such a situation arose." She said as she gathered the note pad and pen that were on the little desk and walked out of the room primly.

"I'm taking this to the headmistress! My cousin the Lady Glinda will not allow me to be treated so!" Annette said with a toss of her shoulder-length, ringletted hair. However, before she even got to the door the lady in question came through it in a great hurry.

"Oh Cousin Glinda, the most horrifical thing has happened! They are trying to make me share a room with the most terribifying, unfashionable girl in the school!" Annette whined.

"Oh my dear, I'm sorry but I have to go on urgent business. I shall see if I can sort it out soon, but I am afraid that this is an urgent matter involving the state. But my dear you look wonderful!" the Good Witch gushed at the end before summoning her bubble. As she brushed past Rhonaraye a strange look crossed the woman's face for a flash, but passed before anyone noticed it.

"Goodbye my dears!" Glinda called down from the air while blowing them kisses and waving in a queenly way with her most photogenic smile plastered on her face

"Take care."

**Alright, now for my wonderful wonderful reviewers:**

**lizziemagic: **Anytime. Yep, Chufferey's in there. Thought I'd bring in some more elements of the book series into it.

**WickedWriteroftheWest: **Thanks. Glad you like so far. Please keep reading and reviewing!

**Maybe-I-Should-Write-Something: **Alright!

**Just Me:** Why thank you! Maybe this chapter will answer a couple of your questions and if not, keep reading, you'll see!

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **Well if I let you know right away then you would keep coming back for more! Yeah, things suck for the good guys right now, and I know, i seem really mean to poor Elphie, but trust me, I really do love the character. I think she's one of the best ever written, both musical and book versions. Yay! I got favourited! Thanks!

**Anna-Marie Raven: **You're right Glinda does deserve some good love too, don't worry I'm not out to get her or anything. Like I said to an earlier reviewer I just thought I'd bring in some book-verse characters as well, something I've been trying to replace OC's with where I can as i actually did witht the Tigeress. SHe was originally an OC but then I read a Lion Among Men and changed her into Princess Muhlama instead. And you're totally right in that the elements you mentioned will come into play.


	6. Part 1 Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine. So sad.

Not quite as many reviews this time as in previous chapter *pouts* but you three who did are still wonderful so today I will answer at the top.

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **I'm glad you are liking it and doubt that you will get bored, it warms my heart to know that there are people who are really enjoying this so much! Here's another update. I'm thinking the next one will be in a few days. Maybe even Sunday, or maybe Monday. We'll see.

**Anna Marie Raven: **Ahh yes, the redhead. Hope you don't mind OCs... ... ...

**lizziemagic: **Yes, i did change Charlane. She used to be an OC, but after reading a Lion Among Men, I decided to change her into a Musicalverse Version of Muhlama. Will I faithfully pair her with the Cowardly Lion? Eh...still on the fence about that one. Not sure whether or not I will bring him into this or not. 2. Yes, here comes Raye! 3. I think that we can all agree there is really only one Gale Force Captain worth mentioning...GO FIYERO! 4.I think most Wicked Fans would love to give that particular scarecrow a great big hug! 5. I know, I can't wait! I'm SOOOOO excited! Its coming back to my hometown for a short month-long run between October and November and I've got TICKETS! They're good seats too! Cost me about a week of my part-time job wages but it is SO going to be worth it!

**Part 1 Chapter 3 **

The two girls were stuck with each other for the time being and classes began. Perhaps it was just karma that every shallow selfish blonde in Oz demanding an expensive private suite was doomed never to get one without a witty, non-conforming roommate attached.

Despite the fact that they were both new to the boarding school and in the youngest year, Liir and Annette were instantly the coolest of the cool. This was mostly because of their connections and wealth as oppose to their personalities.

Rhonaraye—or rather Raye as she preferred to be called—was a completely different story on the other hand. She was, well, _odd_. She didn't seem to possess any clothes that weren't clearly hand-me-downs or homemade, or nay books for that matter which instantly stood out in such an elitist school. She also seemed to lack social skills when dealing with her own species. She was, however, easily able to get along with the Animals on campus. The morning after her arrival the teenager arose earlier than the rest of the students and went out to explore. While doing so she encountered the Donkey she had run into the day before. He was again struggling with a heavy burden—this time a load of textbooks. She was just crossing the cobblestone street (a lot more cautiously this time) when he began to teeter with the amount and weight, a few of the books starting to slide off.

"Oh n-n-n-noo!" he muttered as he tried desperately to regain his balance, cringing as he felt a few of the books on top begin to slide off the pile. If he screwed up a delivery he would get a beating for sure! It would be even worse if they thought he had been trying to teach himself how to read the books! He was fortunate enough that he was permitted to keep his ability to speak! Even if he had been forced to walk on all fours from a young age and not permitted to wear any clothes so that—except for his mangled glasses—there was no indication that he was an Animal not an animal, it was still part of who he was. These thoughts flashed through his head in a terrified jumble that occurred in less than a heartbeat as he waited for the condemning sound of the texts hitting concrete…

It didn't come. Instead a muffled grunt met his long ears and he cracked an eye to see a pair of arms holding the fallen cargo. He opened his eyes wide, shocked that a human was helping him!

"Would you like some help?" a tall red-headed girl asked him. It was the one who had tripped over him in her attempt to evade the coach! And then had the courage to stand up for them both!

"Y-you know," he began hesitantly, "You're stronger than you l-look." The teenager girl smiled, flashing a pretty set of strong-looking white teeth. She _was_ stronger than she looked, for while she wasn't twig thin, she was quite slender and the 5 thick books she now held fairly easily were each a good 5 pounds apiece!

"I'll take that as a compliment." She said, carefully putting her load down and turning to the bag draped across the Donkey's back, rearranging the items. When she was done the Donkey blinked in surprise as some of the pressure eased up from his back. She had not replaced the ones she had picked up for one and had also redistributed the weight and balanced everything so that it was easier to carry. She then picked up the books again and went around to his front

"I'm Rhonaraye, Raye to my friends. Or at least, I would be if I had any of those." She said "What's your name?"

"Jack." The Donkey replied

"You're kidding!"

"Trust me; I'm not a fan of it."

"Alright I won't bring it up again. Now, if you would show me the way, I'm still willing to help you carry this stuff." Raye said. Jack looked at her suspiciously.

"Why would you want to help me?" he asked suspiciously.

"What?" she asked in an incredulous, yet confused voice "What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer it." The Animal replied

"Why do I need a reason to want to lend a hand?" she demanded

"So you think you're better than me because you have fingers?"

"No! Why in Oz would _I_ think that? Why would **you** think that I think that?" the teenager exclaimed. She was quite clearly hurt which further surprised the Donkey. Setting her mouth she started to turn away "Look, I'm not just going to stand here and be insulted when I was just going to lend a hand. If you don't want any help, fine."

"Wait." Jack grumbled before she even took a step. Raye looked back at him with that piercing silver-blue gaze and he pawed the ground slightly with his foot "I'm…I'm sorry, okay? But you can't really blame us can you? If you don't think like that, then you're probably the human on the grounds that doesn't." he grumbled. Raye's expression softened a little

"I'm sorry too, I guess." She sighed and they started walking. "Look, I don't think of Animals as being inferior at all, in fact, from what I've seen so far, I think that you're smarter than about 98% of the campus, not to mention a heck of a lot more hard-working." She said. Remembering her Guardians' warning, she didn't mention that in her opinion, the Animals should be students too and treated EQUALLY. It probably wasn't a good idea to draw too much attention from the Gale Force agents that were undoubtedly stationed at the school.

The pair walked along in a comfortable silence after that. Rye followed Jack to where his destination was without pestering him, something that the Donkey appreciated. When the two of them reached the back door of one of the buildings containing classrooms Jack stopped and looked up at her.

"It would probably be a good idea for you to just put those books on top of the pile and get going." He said "I'm not sure they'd like to see a student consorting with, well someone like me."

Raye nodded reluctantly. Noticing that the donkey's glasses were askew she frowned a little.

"Here." She said, fixing them for him, "Might as well put these fingers to use eh?" and with that, she left.

In her wake she also left a very puzzled Donkey. Who was that girl that didn't believe like everyone else did? He must have stood there dumbly for longer than he thought or walked slower for after struggling up the stairs he found himself staring at the dark shadow of his master, the man in question looming over him with a long, thick bundle of hard sticks tied together in hand…

**888888888888888**

Over the next few weeks Raye observed her fellow classmates with a cold, critical eye from the sidelines of the group interactions and discovered that the cliques within the school were soon very well defined.

At the bottom of the 'Food Chain' as she called it (considering the behaviour of the other pupils, it seemed to be an accurate description), were what she had dubbed the _phobics_. They were individuals who seemed to have just about every fear imaginable, making them very easy targets for, well, anyone. Enough said really.

After the _phobics_ came the '_dorks'_. Their intelligence seemed to be about average and they mainly bunked in the lower end of the campus in the less expensive rooms. They weren't that good at sports or the other extra-circular activities, not that they tried out for many. They were wailed on too, but not to the extent of the phobics.

Next up on the ladder were what Raye mentally thought of as the '_Gorks'_. People of similar wealth as the _dorks_ with a little more intelligence and savvy. They tended to hang out at the chess club and comic section of the library and seemed to have a whole string of allergies or bizarre medical conditions.

After that were the several different sub-types of '_Geek'_. These were the students who were smarter and received high grades but weren't as glamorous or rich as those at the top. They also tended to have strange allergies or conditions which (like the Gorks) Raye suspected they faked most of the time to get out of gym class. This was the group that was most likely to be seen where one wouldn't expect; with the A crowd. If a eek was particularly good at something they would often be roped in by one of the "popular" crowd where a strange symbiotic relationship would form: The geek would do the rich stiff's homework and in return the geek would be under their partially effectual protection—provided they turned in quality forged handwriting and decent enough homework pieces.

The next ones up were the average students. She mentally labelled them average because they didn't seem to be as drastic as the others. They got average grades, and tended to have a little bit of one or the other, but not enough to make them stand out. This set was, however, always poised for an opportunity to climb the proverbial ladder.

Now it was down to the top three.

The next up were the Jocks and/or Cheerleaders. These were all the strong, athletic and good-looking who had somehow wrangled their way up to an almost god-like status with the rest of the student population. In fact, if it weren't for Liir and Annette, they would be at the very top of the chain.

Which brought the tally up to the top two rungs of the ladder, links in the chain, or whatever. At the very top were Annette and Liir, the King and Queen of the Campus thanks to their connections, wealth and looks in spite of the fact that they were only freshmen. Directly below them were their little "inner circles" of equally shallow, selfish social climbers.

The main bullies were located in the top circles of course. They even seemed to have designated enforcers of the 'natural' order on campus. There were two general types—physical and manipulative bully-boys and girls. The physical tended to be big and hulking and utilized the threat of physical violence to carry out their orders and/or keep the others in line. They could be pretty intimidating but quite frankly the manipulative ones were more dangerous. They were sneaky, insidious. Their method involved slow ruin and social isolation. This group (which consisted mostly of girls) would spread rumours and sabotage and therefore were much harder to track down and catch. Most of the student body didn't even know exactly who was in this last group, but Raye had pretty much figured it out.

Raye observed all this with the cold methodical logic of a scientist studying a specimen. She did actually recognise the negative ramifications of thinking of her classmates and peers like that, but frankly, she couldn't really help it. Despite the fact that they were her own age and species, she just couldn't identify with them! Let alone understand them! She hadn't grown up with other children. She'd only seen kids her own age once every couple of months and even back then they had confused her somewhat. She just had no idea _how_ to interact.

However, it wasn't just Raye that was a little puzzled by her peers; the other students (and a couple of the few teachers who actually noticed the student cliques and social ladder) were a little perplexed about her too. She bugged her roommate in particular who, despite sharing a living space however grudgingly, seemed to understand her the least. What Annette really found irksome was that the redhead didn't assimilate into any of the defined groups. There was even a section of loners, but they were very obvious, making a point of sitting alone and shirking company. This Rhonaraye didn't even do that. It was not something that the 'Campus Queen' liked as it meant that she didn't know any way to get at her.

She was also annoyingly smug at times, especially when she bested them in arguments.

Annette complained about her roommate often to Liir and his friends as well as her own cohorts. The Prince of the Campus was usually surrounded by Jocks and other cool people, as well as the occasional hopeful social climbing geek or two that did his homework for him.

However, that particular day a different event had the blonde talking (despite the fact that her roommate had recently discovered her secret stash of hair dye, this news eclipsed even her desire to insult and make fun of the other girl). Madame Morrible was coming to the school to look for magic talents and teach them. No one doubted that Liir would be chosen. He often showed off his little parlour tricks and he came from a strong magical background with the Emerald Vizier as his mother and the Wizard as his grandfather.

Annette was also desperate to become a magic user in order to be named Glinda's heir. She also thought it would impress Liir, not to mention raise her popularity to an unchallengeable status.

"The press secretary is coming! She's going to be keeping an eye out for talent and testing everyone in the school for magic!" Nirise, a pixie like girl said. She was one of the 'A crowd' simply because she always had the latest gossip. Whether or not the information was accurate was questionable. However they didn't care about that so long as it was juicy. On this particular incident though, she wasn't exaggerating (or fabricating) a thing.

"How is she doing the testing?" Liir's 'best bud' asked just as Rhonaraye passed by the table.

"What testing?" she asked as soon as the words left Jenson's mouth. The reactions from the table varied from rolled eyes to snickers.

"Oh the Press Secretary's heading over here for some magical testing."

"Madame _Morrible_ is coming _here_?"

"I thought you were supposed to be smart charity-case." Sweet-Shee, another of Annette's groupies, drawled.

"At least I'll be getting into university on my own merit, not my daddy's coin." She retorted.

"Oh ho! A girl with spirit." One of the jocks laughed "That's funny, amusing even. But why don't you just go to women's work in the beauty parlour or kitchens and don't worry your pretty little heads over University."

"Cool it." Liir told the other boy warningly. He might be the biggest flirt on campus, but with _his_ mother and godmother he had at least a modicum of respect for the opposite gender, unlike his "friend". However, it seemed that Rhonaraye had it covered. She'd definitely reached her tolerance level for _this_ jerk. No one seemed to have noticed the sudden drop in temperature, the increase in wind or the odd waves starting to rumble in the fountain.

The redhead raised an eyebrow before turning to face him directly and leaning in slightly, placing her hands on the table in front of her. The overall effect was to make her look intimidating without her even trying to.

"You're a sexist excuse of a _steroid pump_ with the IQ of a flea. Anyone ever told you that? Oh, and by the way, if your other classes are anything like the ones you have with me, you're deluded if you think that you're going _anywhere_ without bribing your way in." Rhonaraye informed the large brute of a wrestler coolly without missing a beat, her cold stare chilling him to the bone. Everyone else gaped. No one had ever taken the brute to task for any of his remarks before. Some of them might have been a little uncomfortable with them but had never argued it. What was _wrong_ with this girl? Hadn't she ever heard that the nail that stands up gets hammered down?

The redhead didn't give them a chance to throw some kind of insult or retort after her as she picked up her tray again and walked away. When no one was looking she hid the apple she had taken from the cafeteria in her jacket pocket. Jack might like a treat.

But Morrible…this was not good. Her guardians had always been scared of Morrible, and the things she'd heard about the little fishy Witch was enough to make her shudder. She suppressed said reaction as she bit into the other apple that she had taken for her lunch.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Jack?" Raye whispered into the darkness of the stable that evening. "Jack, are you in here?" she hissed as she walked in a little bit further. A low snort met her keen ears and she crept over to a stall. Inside her friend was huddled in a corner in a position she didn't like; one that looked like he had been thrown in and just not had the strength to move. Also, even though the light was dim, she could smell the blood.

"Jack!" she breathed as she opened the door and hurried to kneel by the Donkey's side. "What happened?" she asked. He let out a weak cough in response. Noticing that the water troth was empty she went outside and located a bucket of fresh, clean water and brought it back to her friend's stall. She poured some into the wooden troth but kept some of the contents to clean his cuts. Picking up the attached ladle with one hand and carefully lifting the Donkey's head with the other she tipped the water into his mouth. He gagged at the first few sips but then drank thirstily.

"Please tell me this wasn't because we were seen talking!" she begged. He coughed and shook his head

"Don't be so arrogant. The foreman was just in a bad mood, and drunk." He replied. Raye let out a small sigh of relief before she started to go over his injuries. Jack winced as she pulled a twig from one of his cuts.

"What in the 7 hells did he hit you with?" she demanded in a hiss as she found more bits of things in his fur and cuts.

"He calls it the tickler. It's a bunch of sticks and rods tied together with a whip-arrgh, be _careful_." The Donkey hissed when peeling off a long section of bark ripped some of his skin off as well. She murmured an apology.

"They shouldn't be allowed to treat you like this!" she whispered, outraged.

"Legally, he can't. The Vizier managed to get a law passed a few years ago that we have to be fed and watered enough, provided with shelter and not beaten. He could get a month's time in the dungeons and a fine if he's caught, though most officials look the other way and even if they don't its rare that they get the full extent of the punishment."

Rhonaraye clenched her teeth on hearing this while she gently cleaned his wounds.

"So basically it does nothing! The Vizier should be doing more-this is just so wrong! You are just as smart as I am and a heck of a lot smarter that the majority of the spoiled brats that everyone fawns over. This isn't fair!"

"Guess you didn't get the memo," Jack rasped, "LIFE isn't fair." She gave him a look, but couldn't stop a smile from tugging at the corners of her mouth. She went serious again after she took another look at her friend's bloodied hide. Her temper was rising, but she managed to rein it in. Things happened when she got angry, things she didn't always like the consequences of.

"The conditions you live in are still despicable! Not just you, but all the Animals here. This isn't right." She said, putting the apple down in front of him as she continued washing the cuts. Her friend wouldn't let her bandage them, since it would show that someone human had helped him. She hated not being able to do more than clean the wounds, but if he didn't want her to, she couldn't force it on him. They weren't life-threatening or anything though, just messy.

As she slipped out of the stable, Raye vowed that things would change. She would _make_ them change if she had to. She was young and could be patient if need be. Perhaps not _too_ patient though. She would change things if it was the last thing she ever did! With this silent promise to her friend she began walking back to her dorm. While she was making her way through the square however, trumpet-like instruments sounded and an elaborately decorated coach began to pull through the gates.

The coach moved surprisingly quickly, skidding to a halt right in front of her. It was evening, close to curfew, so it would take a little longer than usual for crowds to gather. The tall young girl stepped back a few paces as the door opened and a footman hopped out to help the "important" occupant out. Rhonaraye felt her blood run cold at the sight of the fat little fish-like woman.

Madame Morribe, unfortunately, noticed her before the redhead could slip away.

"Excuse me." She said, "Stop right there. Yes you in the shabby coat." Raye stopped and turned slowly, but didn't meet the squat Witch's eyes.

"I need help carrying my bags to my suite."  
"Um, I will help with some of them-" Raye began. Morrible laughed and gave her one of those smug power-mad looks

"You will help with _all_ of them."  
"But I need to be back in my dorm room before curfew, or else I will get a detention and possibly privileges revoked." The teenager responded. Morrible seemed surprised at this. Raye knew that she probably sounded selfish but didn't quite manage to care. She did not like this woman and felt some kind of innate need to stand up to her. _Besides, showing selfishness would probably make me blend in_. She thought ruefully.

"You're a _student_?" Morrible asked after a moment as Raye picked up two large bags.

"Yes."

"That is 'yes, _Madame_.'" The Press Secretary pressed, desiring to establish authority immediately. The teenager in question rolled her eyes and ground her teeth as her knuckles went white with her grip on the cases. She didn't know what it was about this woman, but she felt an almost instinctual aversion to her and she didn't think it was just because of what she had heard of the woman.

"Yes _Madame_." She repeated, though her tone made the carp-like witch bristle

"What is your name?" Morrible enquired.

Raye was spared from answering right away when Liir of all people came over.

"Madame Morrible! A pleasure as always! You look as fabulous as ever." he said, sweeping a low, dramatic bow. Raye had to hold back a snort. This creature? Fabulous? Clearly he'd hit his head somewhere.

"And I see you are still as flattering as ever." Morrible replied as she extended her hand palm down for him to kiss it. Rhonaraye nearly gagged, but hoisted up two more of the bags from the back of the coach to the small pile that was to be moved later. To the redhead's surprise, Liir offered to _help_. With _manual labour_. Her surprise vanished however, when Morrible waved him off with a chuckle.

_He never intended to help. He knew she would refuse any actual assistance from him in such a menial task. _The redhead thought with a roll of her eyes. Morrible then led the way to her suite, after which to the student's surprise and dismay, Jack was sent up to help. Upon seeing that her battered friend was to be made to carry so much on his alreadyvstrained back she stayed to help with the whole load in spite of her earlier complaint. What the heck. She'd sneak into the dorm. It wasn't like Annette hadn't done so about 4 times already (even though they'd only been there a week and a half) so if the hair-dye-blonde tried to blackmail her, the taller girl would fight fire with fire. After the last piece of baggage was finally in the grotesquely luxurious and downright tacky set of pre-prepared rooms, Rhonaraye started to leave when that slightly shrill voice called after

"Tell me child, what exactly are you protesting?" Morrible asked snidely, only just managing to hold back laughter

"I'm sorry…_Madame_?" she asked, placing a borderline mocking emphasis as she turned back slightly.

"Your hair and clothing." The fat little woman chuckled "What are you _protesting_?" Lurline she sounded like those gossiping ninnies. So _that_ was the one who'd spawned the unofficial cast system.

Neither heard or saw a long crack appear in the window behind the heavy curtains but the Donkey did. This time the teenager did look Morrible directly in the eye

"Genetics and over-taxing apparently." She replied dryly, "I was born with this hair and am a scholarship student. I hope you find the rooms to your liking, now that is what I as a "servant"" she air-quoted the word, "Am supposed to say right? Enjoy your time and don't worry, you won't be hearing much more from me." She finished with a flourishingly low bow before turning on her heel and crossing the distance between her and the doorway in two long strides. When Morrible reached the place she had been standing it took her 4 to get to the door to close it. Who did that girl remind her of? Shrugging it off with the decision that it was probably something she was wearing that reminded her of some of the shabbier cross-country messengers, she walked over to the window to pull back the curtains and noticed the thin line across one of the panes. With a tsk-tsk, she pulled the bell connected to the servants quarters to have someone come and fix it.

()()()((()())()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"What was with that?" Jack asked his slender human friend as they walked out of the elaborate building together. It had started to rain again, not that either of them really cared about getting wet.

"I lost my temper a little, alright?" she snapped "I'll try to keep a low profile from here on though. I don't like the idea of having to spend that much time with her."

"Why?" the Donkey asked as he skipped around a puddle. Raye splashed right through it. She gave him one of her 'looks' at which he added "Well for me it's understandable, she's notorious for her dislike of Animals, but…_you're_ human."

"Yes, and not one of her rich little princesses. She's a complete snob. I don't know what it is about her but I just don't trust her. Why did she come so late? Almost everyone was inside already because it _had _started raining, then she turns up and it suddenly stops just long enough for her to unload? She's a weather witch. She could have cleared it up from miles away if she'd wanted to. Why didn't she want a public greeting? Somehow I doubt it's out of some newfound humility." Jack let out a low, whinnying chuckle

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you." He commented. This seemed to abate her anger and she let out a laugh

"Other than the fact that I put my opposable thumbs to work and slip you a-p-p-l-e-s all the time?"

"Well, that stuff too. I have to admit, for a human, you aren't too bad. Don't go getting an ego though. If you do I'm never associating with you again."

This time it was the human's turn to chuckle as the two went their separate ways to their living spaces.


	7. Part 1 Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sigh. Too bad, eh?

Usual request, read and Review please. Answers to reviews left are at the end of the chapter.

**Part 1 Chapter 4 **

Liir had also been a little perplexed about Morrible's timing. She was usually as much of a Drama Queen as she accused Glinda of being. He sneaked into his room easily. He had originally started out with a private suite, but right now, he was not alone.

One of his mother's Winged Monkeys had flown in the night before last. He wasn't sure what its name was, it was one of the younger ones, but he didn't want to run the risk of anyone finding out that it was with him. He wrote a letter to his mother and put her seal on it. Now this Monkey would hopefully be okay, if it didn't get lost again. But it should leave tonight. Morrible hated Animals almost as much as the Vizier loved them.

He wondered what people back in the Emerald city were doing now…

Well Glinda could be doing any number of things.

His Grandfather was probably tinkering with some new hair-brained invention, or bothering the Vizier…

And his mother was probably reading that stupid book and hiding from the Wizard in her tower. Thinking of her stirred up an emotion all right—frustration. Why was it that she never answered any of his questions? He hardly knew anything about his father, except that he had been in the Gale Force, captured by the Wicked Witch and presumably killed. Even then he never got any more than vague references to those events. Oh no wait, he was _Handsome_. That was what Glinda had told him; that and that Liir looked a lot like him.

Not one to let something bother him for long, the teenage boy hopped onto one of the long couches with his hands behind his head casually.

"Ahhh." He sighed out loud, "This is the life." He actually fell asleep like that. Life really _was_ painless for the brainless. And as long as he kept himself that way, he would _never_ be stressed out…

()()()()()()()()()()(_)(

Morrible's purpose at the school became clear in the assembly that was held the very next day.

"Jack?" Raye hissed to the Donkey without looking around as he started to pass by her. She had hung back from the rest of the line, but could catch up if need be. "What's going on here? Why are we all being sent to the auditorium?"

"There's an assembly to officially welcome Madame Morrible. She wants to make her announcements in public." He said out of the corner of his mouth as he continued walking. His friend followed his example and caught up with the rest of her classmates. While everyone else was clambering to get to the front seats to try and get the influential woman's attention Raye was more then happy to take a seat at the very back.

The assembly was…educational. Hardly interesting, but educational. If one bothered to listen for the "fine print", they would know what the giant carp intended and it was hardly as innocent as it was made to sound. She was looking for new recruits. Oddly enough, Liir also picked up on that as she droned on with other pointless information. Why was he noticing the dark undercurrents when he worked so hard at being blissfully ignorant? He seemed to be good at weeding out the useless info like a pro though and got bored. He looked all around the room as the speech wore on and found his gaze pulled to the peculiar redhead at the back even though she was in a throng of people.

She intrigued him. That was the only word for it. She obviously didn't fit in, but it wasn't just that. She was in several of his classes, one of the top students in fact, (which was one of the reasons that many scorned her) she would probably be at the top in academics if it weren't for one subject: history. That was where she seemed to have trouble, and where several members of his crowd watched her to wait for a slip up.

Other then History where she argued with the teacher and textbook though, she was a straight A+ student. That was why he had not argued when, in the Life Sciences class just before the assembly, she had been assigned as his partner for an up-coming project. Finally after what seemed like an eternity they were dismissed.

"Hey! _Throular_!" he called after her as he weaved through the throng of people. She stopped and waited for him to reach her before addressing him.

"What do you want _Wizantier_?" she said, purposely using his last name the same way he'd used hers. He paused and smoothed back his hair, giving her the dazzling smile that made all the other girls melt.

"When is our project going to be done then?" he asked in his most charming voice.

"Sorry?" she asked dryly, a tiny amount of disbelief in her voice. Why didn't anything work on this girl?

"Er…when will our project be done?" he repeated, ditching the charmer routine. The girl let out a short, harsh laugh

"When you decide to drag your sorry behind over to _work on it_." She replied, leaning in towards him and jabbing her finger into his chest with every emphasised word. She then pushed her large round glasses further up the bridge of her thin nose and pushed past him on her way to class. Raye had hated being assigned to the Vizier's kid. He was lazy, arrogant, selfish…but then again, he wasn't as bad as some of the others in his crowd. And _why_ did he seem so familiar? It was odd, but at the moment irrelevant to anything in particular, so she filed that feeling away in her memory, for the time being.

The rest of the classes that day were boring, but she still listened diligently and made notes, not putting it past the professors to throw in a test question about something in these lessons. Other than the aftermath (or rather after-chat) of the assembly, nothing more surprising happened, or at least…not until she reached the library.

Liir had gotten out of class early (he'd already forgotten what excuse he had given) and gone to the library. His appearance had caused one of the librarians to drop the stack of books she was putting away in sheer shock. By the time his project partner had arrived, he was already researching the topic they had been assigned. Surprisingly enough, he was finding the social structure of wolves (wolves, not Wolves) quite fascinating. The book he was reading was quite old, and he'd never heard of the author, but it certainly made the topic interesting.

"I'm hallucinating." A dry voice said, interrupting his studying. He lifted his eyes from the page he was on to see the tall, slender girl with shabby clothing and glasses standing there looking down at him, her arms crossed and a wry but pleased smile on her face.

"What makes you say that?" Liir asked, flashing her his stellar grin.

"Now I know I'm not an expert at this, but I'm pretty sure you use that smile and tone for flirting or something, right?"

"Huh?" he was surprised. Well, it WAS true, but he hadn't actually meant anything serious in this case. A couple of the geeks had actually tried to flirt with the girl for some reason, but she didn't seem to get that they were flirting and not just trying to make idle conversation (another peculiarity, she had no idea what social skills seemed to entail at all in that area, and very little of what it meant in others).

"Some of Annette's cronies were babbling about it, and since propositioning the opposite sex seems to be most of what the majority of them do, I put two and two together." She said as she slid into a chair opposite him.

"So," the boy started again, still using the same tone and smile. She let out an exasperated noise and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, _stop that_. Let's make one thing clear, I am NOT interested in you, and you aren't interested in me. We both know that, so let's not set the Cat amongst the Pigeons."

"Don't you mean cat, and pigeons?" he asked

"Nope. Mine hate each other more." She replied briskly "So were you just pretending to research, or was I actually hallucinating?"

"I _was_ researching and you _weren't_ hallucinating." Liir said jovially, but not flirtatiously.

"Well, you certainly surprised me. I thought it would take you weeks to realize that I wasn't bluffing and then freak out right before the due date." She said.

"You'd really risk your own grade?" he asked cynically, not believing her. Raye snorted.

"Quite frankly I was going to do _exactly_ half of the work, stamp my name all over it and hand it in with a note that said you hadn't pulled through." She said bluntly.

"_What_?" Liir demanded incredulously, bolting out of his lounging bposition and sitting straight in his chair in outraged shock. She shrugged as she stood to go through the book titles on the shelves. "You were going to just stand by and watch me burn?"

"Only if you didn't do the work and besides," She countered, pulling back from the shelves to look him directly in the eye "Why _not_? You'd all do the same to me and do it with glee. Besides, I figured if you _did_ try to foist the entire project on me I'd make an example of you. Keep everyone else from trying to take advantage of the fact that if _I_ get a bad grade I can loose my place here and I happen to need this education. A lot rides on it for me believe it or not."

This silenced Liir for a few minutes out of slight guilt. That was a lot of pressure on one teenager stuck on her own in what was a somewhat hostile environment for her.

They had now been in school a month an a half now. Annette and Rhonaraye were still stuck with each other because repairs were being made to about half the dormitories that year (health officials had finally cracked down on the school). The blonde had been given the choice of either keeping the roomie she had, or exchanging her for 3 more. Oddly enough she had chosen to stay with the girl she despised, and Liir couldn't figure out why.

Rhonaraye could though. It was out of fear. Raye had discovered several things from living with her without even having to try, such as the fact that the other girl dyed her hair blonde and was currently suffering from acne trouble that was hidden by about a pound of makeup. Raye was the safest bet because, while she knew these 'terrible' things, she a) had no interest in social climbing or the cosmetics of the other girls b) no one would take her word for it over Annette's, and c) she had known for weeks and not made any move against the other girl.

The truth was, Raye honestly didn't care, but also had to grudgingly admit that she was probably better off where she was. Annette was at the top, so she didn't have to do anything drastic to impress or avenge someone in order to get higher up in the school social order. Consequently, she didn't condescend to dig through her 'deplorable' roommate's stuff, for which the red-head was almost grateful. She was a very private person.

Pulling herself out of her musings she looked at the titles on the spines of the books in the pile, and then got up, walking over to a shelf and coming back with some different ones.

"The ones you've got aren't the reliable sources." She told him as she separated some of the volumes into piles, stopping to look at each one a moment before putting it in one of the stacks. "Well, these three aren't _too_ bad I suppose, but definitely none of the T. Woodsman set. They're about 10% half-truth, 10% propaganda and 80% ridiculous self-glorifying dramatics. Honestly, you find more holes in the information then in a block of cheese. Don't trust any by Gale either, both of them write fiction in the guise of research. Nope, Tomocsin isn't worth it, he just recycles the junk from the others. No, no. You want the ones by Ox and Thwane, and others like that. The only modern ones worth reading are the ones published anonymously by _A Vinkus author_." She informed him casually. Her partner's jaw was open slightly.

"How…how exactly do you know all that?"

"I read a lot, always have. Not much else to do sometimes." She shrugged. It was then that Liir made a somewhat guilty realization. This girl was lonely. She sat alone everywhere unless assigned a seat beside someone in class. People pushed their books into empty chairs when she walked by their table at lunch, they took verbal swipes at her, and she returned them, which didn't do anything for her popularity.

But at the same time, she didn't ask for pity. She gave as good as she got, acted as though she didn't care about sitting alone pretty convincingly and seemed to enjoy being different from everyone else.

"_Hello_? Earth to Wizantier?" she said, snapping her fingers. He shook his head a little and they began to get to work.

()()()()()()()()()()()(()()()()()()()()()())))()()()()

Liir and Rhonaraye met at the library every evening to work on their project. The librarian weren't surprised to see the female member of the pair, she was there every evening regardless, but the boy, Liir, was a prankster, and a general trouble-maker. The teachers were wary and weary of him, but couldn't say or do much because of his 'connections'. Yet, here he was, and he wasn't making any trouble and was actually _quiet_. Granted, he stayed only an hour or two while she spent quite a lot longer, but it was still both a surprise and an improvement.

Liir and Rhonaraye's teacher also noticed a very big change in Liir, particularly in his work habits. Professor Kindron (the life-sciences professor) had assigned his class homework and even a quiz on top of the project, and the arrogant, slightly obnoxious and annoyingly smug student with grades who had just been just skimming along (barely passing) had suddenly started to improve. He stopped throwing spit-balls in class and didn't try to cheat on the quiz. However the most surprising turn came one morning when the teacher went through his papers and nearly dropped the paper when he saw that the boy in question had actually completed his homework!

On the day that the projects were due, Kindron wasn't surprised that it was on time. After all, that was why he had paired the border-line delinquent with one of the best students. The shock was the presentation(Kindron always had an oral component in his projects) when, to his surprise, they talked for an equal amount of time on the subject and answered the same amount of questions. When he read over their assignment to mark it, the work was neat, precise, accurate, and some of it _was_ in Liir's handwriting. A week or so later, to everyone's general surprise, the Prince of the Campus had received an A.

Liir stared at the page for several seconds before he realized that his mouth was still hanging open. He had never gotten a mark like that before! Then again, he had never actually sat down to work or study for something school-related, except with his mother on occasion. Speaking of which, she would certainly be happy about this. Hmm. Maybe the library wasn't a waste of space after all… … …

Just then Morrible called him in to do the magic testing. Whilst in there the Press Secretary made him touch a couple of magic detectors, see if he could do this and that, etc, etc. He, of course, did have the talent and though Morrible gave him a wide toady smile and congratulations and all that, he suspected that she had been expecting to find more.

In fact, the little woman _had_. On the day Liir had arrived, the 'magic waves' (as the Wizard had named them) had spiked off the charts when she had looked, or rather felt into them. She didn't have the power Elphaba possessed, but she had refined and honed two aspects of the small abilities she possessed. One, of course, was the weather, which everyone knew about. The other one, though, was detecting magic and magical talent. Unfortunately, she could only tell when there was an extreme talent in the area, and among many people, not who it was or exactly where it was coming from at such a distance as there was between the Emerald City and the Academy. Around Elphaba it was pointless to try seeing if her son would be anything like her. The green woman was just so powerful it was like trying to find a star in the sky while looking directly into the sun.

Well, Liir was probably going to follow in his mother's footsteps eventually, even if at the moment he seemed to determined to be like the father no one would tell him much of. He did possess _some_ magical ability, but not that much. Annette, the little copy-cat herself, had been in several times. Unfortunately Morrible would probably have to accept her into the classes with her connections, though she, like her hero, had barely enough to conjure up a change in the colour of her extravagant clothing. Still, there were a few she had not tried testing yet, so she would simply have to continue going through the roster. Sighing, she turned and picked up one of the clip boards. It had to be someone in the larger circles, it simply had to. There was no other explanation…

_Okay, so not the most exciting chapter ever, but the next one has some excitement in it and there's a few relationships growing here. Actually, I was debating cutting this, but figured that Raye and Liir needed to get to know each other a bit more to set things up later. Read and Review please. Speaking of which, Now for my reviewers._

_Ah, my three faithful friends._

**WickedWriteroftheWest: **Don;t worry about it! I love hearing from you! If you have any comments or questions you can leave those too in reviews.

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **No worries about the short review it is awesome that you left one! You have my sympathies about the lack of empathy you got there, I think I need a similar amount of time reading and writing fanfiction!XD

**Lizziemagic: **I love getting your reviews! No, *chuckles* my eyeballs didn't burn from reading it, I enjoyed doing so. Thank you for giving me the heads up on that sentace at the beginning by the way. I went back and fixed it. Charlane has now been refashioned into a sort of musicalverse version of Muhlama, just to clarify. I'm still not sure whether or not Brr will get a bigger part in it to go with our Kitty friend, though I was considering adding in another Dorothy scene.

*reads your reaction to Raye's outburst* LMAO! Oh yes, she went there! But before you get too mad at her, remember that she does't actually know that Elphaba is her mother. Yeah, I enjoyed lengthening her verbal squashing of the sexist brute. Now, for your other questions; Morrible initially thought Raye was a staff member, but she was also being the be-otch that she is. As to her and the Wizard's knowledge of Liir's parentage, well it could really only have been one guy, right? I mean they knew she was crazy about him and he ran off with her so...as to the rest of Oz, the general citizens don't seem to be the inquisitive type-at least when they are in crowd mode. So basically, they don't know and don't ask. All they really care about is his mother and grandfather, they seem petty well hoodwinked by the Wizard anyhow. I have a question for you now though, which Yero reference did you mean?


	8. Part 1 Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sigh. Too bad, eh?

Usual request, read and Review please. Answers to reviews left are at the end of the chapter.

**Part 1 chapter 5**

Liir was walking down the streets of the little town built around the school when it happened. He was actually looking for Rhonaraye Throular to thank her for helping him with his Life Sciences. Well, he found her.

The teenage boy was walking towards the Library when he first heard it, the sounds of a Donkey, and some angry humans. Breaking into a run, he followed the sound, and… something else that he couldn't quite explain. When he turned a corner he saw someone with a long, carrot-red braid and a somewhat shabby coat turn another corner. He followed, finding himself behind the supply building, standing right behind Throular, who stood rigidly, trembling in rage.

Three large brutes of boys were tormenting a Donkey. He recognised them. The tallest one was Lotq from the wrestling team, big, but not very bright, neither was the bulky rock of a boxer named Borrack and their leader was the surprisingly short, but completely ripped star member of the shot-put team, Gardzaln, also known as Gary whom Raye had taken to task for his remarks a few weeks earlier.

Lotq had the Donkey in a headlock and was pulling his ears and Borrack was standing in front of the pair, fists clenched and pounding into the wrestler's captive at intervals in the little speech Gary was giving. (All this Liir saw spanned the time of only a couple of seconds, his mouth agape)

"…so, Donkey, you think you can short us our due?" *smack, whinny* "Well we're going to teach you some humility!" *another smack and cry* "This might show you how to treat your betters!"

"How can he if they aren't present?" a female voice said from behind Borrack. As the brute turned he received a fist to the eye from the fiery red-head. All the boys were surprised at that, normally the girls they hung out with would give them a slap to the cheek, not a punch in the face! Liir found himself rooted to his spot. They hadn't seen him yet. He technically had the option of leaving and pretending that he hadn't seen anything—but also found that he couldn't do that either.

"Well what do we have here?" Gary asked sleekly, starting to circle the girl until he stood face to face with her. She was more than a head taller than him. By this time several more people had congregated around Liir.

"A four-eyed freak who needs to be taught a lesson as well!" the short one finished with a cruel laugh.

"I remember you—argh!" his drawling remark was cut off as Raye's foot rammed into his stomach, doubling him over in pain.

"You stay away from me!" she snarled at him "Now let the Donkey go!"

At that point Lotq threw the Donkey from him until he hit the wall to the building, making the wall shudder slightly and the open paint can and bag of beads at the little landing several feet up move closer to the edge. The girl's eyes widened slightly as the Animal was thrown, which distracted her just enough for the brute to rush her.

"HEY!" Liir yelled upon seeing this, feeling weirdly protective of his project partner. The girl went flying and slammed into the wall with a thud, landing hard on her backside. A creaking noise made her look up to see the teetering paint can fall to its side and a rush of viscous blue sludge streak down towards her. A millisecond later the girl was drenched in the paint and, as though to add insult to injury, the beads next to the can spilled down onto her head and shoulders, making her look like an art project gone wrong. By this point a crowd had gathered in the hopes of seeing a fight. They started laughing and pointing at her and then at the poor freshly battered Donkey who had also been splattered. None of them seemed to have heard Liir's protest over their amusement.

The girl against the wall swiped a hand over her glasses to whip the paint from her spectacle lenses to reveal a pair of cold, angry, and stunning bright blue-grey eyes. It was at that moment that all hell broke loose.

First, ice began to form in between the cracks between the cobblestones and across buildings with a loud crackling sound as a freezing cold wind whipped in. The laughter died down as students started to notice the frost creeping along their jackets. Thunder clouds suddenly boomed over head the ground began to tremble.

"How dare you?" Rhonaraye hissed at the three bullies as she slowly got to her feet. She was trembling, not in fear but in fury, the earth tremors not seeming to have any effect on her. Glass windows shattered, the small flames in the picturesque little street lamps exploded. People started screaming at around that point. When it was Morrible appeared, no one was quite sure.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" the teenage girl roared in the bullies faces as lightening began to crackle overhead along with the booming thunder. She had been bottling up her anger, hurt, disappointment, homesickness…_everything_ inside for far too long but it had been even worse at the school. Now, it was exploding out of her like a volcano. She was too angry for words, which was saying something considering her vocabulary. Her nostrils flared with each deep, quick breath she took and the wind whipped around her furiously.

"Raye, stop!" Jack called, trying to get her attention. She had told him once why she would verbally snipe back, but made sure never to loose her temper. Things happened when she got mad, things like this apparently. When the fiery-headed girl looked over at her bruised and bloodied friend, the change was instantaneous. Her expression changed, the edge in her eyes softened. The storm dissipated, the ice receded, the wind died down and the lamps snuffed themselves out as she regained control of herself.

Everyone was dumbstruck. Who knew that the Misfit-Loner could do _that_? Who knew that _anyone_ could do that? The paint-stained girl seemed to wilt as she knelt down to pick up the Donkey's glasses from where they had fallen and put them on his face as he limped over to her.

"I'm sorry Jack." She said quietly.

"What was that?" a terribly familiar voice said from behind her. Raye whipped around, sending some paint splattering from her hair, to see Morrible a few steps away from her.

"Well, what did you say?" the woman repeated when the teenager remained silent. She mumbled something.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said I'm sorry!" the teenager repeated louder, then sighed. She practically wilted as she stood. "I guess I'll go pack." She said as she started to walk past, but Morrible grabbed the teenager's slender arm with her fat podgy hand. The girl stiffened and froze, every muscle in her body tensing. She didn't like being near this woman, let alone having her touch her. These thoughts flashed through her head in a heartbeat and were interrupted by the older (WAY older) woman speaking

"You **never** apologise for talent!" Morrible shrilled, "And you have quite an impressive one!" For a moment, Rhonaraye was speechless, but quickly recovered

"Excuse me?" she asked, the paint was still dripping from her.

"You have a great and rare talent and such power must be harnessed! It is meant to be used! A gift like yours, well there is a definite chance that if you work as you should-"

"Hold on a minute, not that I'm complaining, but…I'm not getting expelled?" Raye interrupted. Liir frowned. He felt like he had heard that speech before, like in a dream or something. Morrible shook her head with that creepy little grin of hers.

"No dear, definitely not! Come with me to my office. Let's see if we can arrange a schedule." At this point Morrible was towing the teenaged girl off. However after a few stumbling steps said teen dug her heels into the ground, causing both of them to lurch forward.

"Uh…if you don't mind, I would like to go clean up first." She said, moving her hand downwards to indicate her newly blue-splotched self. This was true, though it wasn't the only reason why she didn't want to go with Morrible. She not only wanted to see if Jack was alright, but she had this terrible feeling that if she went with her now, something would happen that she wouldn't like.

Morrible looked a little taken aback for a second, but then smiled and replied,

"Yes, of course. But you must come and see me first thing tomorrow morning."

"Thank you Madame." Rhonaraye replied quietly, "I'll help clean up the mess." She tried to add, only to be waved off. Making a mental note to go see the head janitor, she headed away from the rest of the crowd to the pump outside the thrift store. Both the human workers that manned the stores and janitor staff used it while the Animals used the smaller one set aside. From her first day she had been using the pump to clean up the "accidental" spills of ink or juice or mud that seemed to find their way onto her clothes. It wasn't that she was bowing to peer pressure by avoiding the girls' elaborate bathhouses, she just couldn't take the smell or the smoky air they created. She'd had somewhat weak lungs as a child apparently due to a premature birth according to her guardians. It was something she was growing out of but she still did not appreciate the oppressive, overwhelming blast that came from the multiple strong perfumes the girls used. Besides, outdoor pumps were things she had used all her life.

8888888888888888

When Morrible got into her office she headed straight for the communication crystal to update the wizard on the situation. Flicking it with her thumb and forefingers three times she muttered the word 'Wizard' and soon enough she was staring at the seedy little man through the Mirror that the crystal was set into.

"Ah Madame Morrible! How is everything over there? Is Liir alright?" he asked, a flash of concern crossing his face as the latter thought occurred to him.

"Yes, Wizard. He does have some small talent." The woman replied, which clearly made the Wizard pleased "Though he wasn't the one that gave off those magical waves…"

"Oh wait a minute, Elphaba just walked in, Elphaba!" the wizard called from the other end of the line. From where Morrible was, she could hear the Green woman exchange a few words with the Wizard before she appeared in the mirror

"What is it?" the Vizier asked wearily as she crossed her arms over her chest. "The Wizard tells me that you have found the talent you were looking for?"

"I believe," Morrible began, pausing for effect "That we may be dealing with a mage." For a moment there was a stunned silence. It was the green woman who broke it.

"_What_?" she demanded as though she didn't believe she had heard correctly, much to the Press Secretary's satisfaction. She did love some good dramatics

"I thought you said that those sage people died out years ago!" the Wizard exclaimed

"_Mage_, not _Sage,_ Wizard." Elphaba corrected. Even after all these years she refused to call him 'father' "The Sages dealt with natural magic; plants, weather, water, fire. They didn't need spells because they were able to call upon that which was already there, natural magic. Witches and Wizards use a different kind of magic, with spells and pentacles. It's more…well it's just different. We conjure, transform we do different things with it. Morrible is one of those on the border line, a hedge witch. But a _mage, _a mage has the ability and power to use both…but they are _very_ rare. The last one died nearly a century ago."

"And this girl is _powerful_, the mage that I've found." Morrible said smugly. She was clearly proud of herself for finding yet another powerful student who would eventually be of use to the Wizard. And it was hard to find one as rare as this particular diamond in the ruff.

"Morrible, are you positive that this girl is a mage? You could be mistaken. Why don't you leave this one alone?" Elphaba said, not wanting another innocent to get trapped in the web of lies and deceit that the Wizard and his advisors laid out. It was a half-hearted attempt at deflecting them for she knew it was futile. She was of course contradicted heavily by the other two. The greed witch sighed and then (somewhat rudely interrupting) made sure that Liir was alright before leaving. She didn't want to hear any more, she couldn't hear anymore. The child was doomed.

Returning to her tower she took out her crystal ball and decided to scry for this so-called "mage" herself, but first she decided to check on her son.

To Elphaba's surprise, she only needed to spell out a scrying spell once for there was no doubt that the girl her son was with at that moment was the one. Even in the crystal ball Elphaba could almost see the power radiating from her, though it was calming. She must be regaining control of herself…

In the crystal she could see her son walking down an alley to the back of a shabby-looking maintenance office where a young woman was bent over on the floor. Her clothes were covered in blue paint which was also encrusted in the long rope of carrot red hair draped over her shoulder.

"Go _away_ Wizantier!" the girl ordered sharply. She was on her knees with a dust pan and sweeper, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows as she swept up pieces of broken glass.

"You know they told you that you don't have to clean this up, right?" Liir remarked.

"I made the mess, so I will clean it up, now leave me alone!" she snapped

"Why are giving yourself more work Throular?" Liir asked her

"Why are you still here?" she retorted, looking over her shoulder sharply, but then she sighed "I might as well. It's not like I have anything else to do. Besides, if I don't clean it up then one of the Animals or other Staff will have to, and they're treated badly enough without getting scraped up by broken glass—don't pretend you don't see it." She told him matter-of-factly. The teenager looked as though she seriously regretted her loss of control and, Elphaba was impressed to notice, had clearly observed the extra guards that had been stationed with the express purpose of preventing this bright new talent from leaving.

Liir shrugged and took the dustpan from her to hold it in front of the brush for her. This surprised the redhead but she nevertheless accepted his help silently. After a few minutes though, she sat back on her heels and looked at him with a perplexed frown.

"You know," she said, pointing the brush at him "A month ago…maybe even a week ago I would have expected you to walk away…but you didn't. And even then you stood there and did nothing _until_ they threw _me_ against the wall at which point looked like you were about to jump in and defend me…and you don't even _like_ me. What's with that?"

"Well, a month or even a week ago I might have walked away." Liir replied "Besides, who said I didn't like you? You got me my first A…_s_. My mother will actually be happy when she sees my first term report card. Besides, you're…you're fun to hang with." Suddenly the girl froze, turning back to face him again slowly before inquiring

"Wait a second, I'm not any form of expert, but are you hitting on me?"

The look on her son's face made Elphaba want to laugh

"Ewww, no! Absolutely not! NO! Er, no offence." Was the instant, shocked reply. For a moment Elphaba was worried at the response this would prompt, but the next the red head started laughing

"Oh thank Lurline for that! No offence to you either pal, you're not bad looking or anything but for some reason the idea of lip-locking with you just makes me want to gag!."

"But…we can be friends?" Liir asked cautiously. Raye gave him a pleasantly surprised, touched look and the other teenager cleared his throat uncomfortably and tried to salvage his reputation "I need help on my other subjects afterall." Unfortunately, his companion didn't take that very well, or in context. She immediately seemed to shut off and practically attacked the glass with the little broom.

"No, no, that was a joke!" Liir quickly corrected, "Come on Throular, I didn't mean it like that! You're not just someone I intend to use! How can you say such a thing?" this puzzled Elphaba. The girl hadn't said anything. The other teenager also noticed this. She straightened and frowned at the young man slightly.

"Liir, I didn't say anything." 'Throular' stated with a slow shake of her head

"You didn't?" Liir enquired with confusion.

"No." she replied, pausing "But…I did _think_ it."

**Well, there we go. Not a HUGE chapter but reasonable length with some action and drama in it. Please tell me what you think when you review.**

**Speaking of which:**

_**Beautifully Tragic Girl**: Well, here's some more Raye and Liir goodness. I'm glad you like them, I always have fun writing them. Force be with you too and happy readings!_

_**lizziemagic: **You don't have to feel ashamed! You are such an awesome reviewer! Yeah, bit of a spoiler here, but I'm thinking Muhlama and Brr...erm, yeah I don't think it'll happen in this one. Still could POSSIBLY change but I'm starting to think its unlikely. I cut the bit about Raye and History to try and hurry the story up a bit, but if readers think it was important then I have plenty of time to plug it back in, no worries. Did I miss that reference already? I don't think so, I'll try and see what I can do when it comes up. If I missed it, I'll see what I can do. _

_ **Thanks everyone! Read and Review!**_


	9. Part 1 Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sigh. Too bad, eh?

**Okay, nice big chapter for you guys today. Read and Review please. Answers to reviews left are at the end of the chapter. I was actually debating about whether or not I should have kept the scene in between Annette and Raye that you will find in this one, please tell me what you think of it and of the more dramatic scene spliced in with the somewhat less exciting portions. Also, my spellcheck has stopped working so I appologise for any typos that remain. **

**Part 1 chapter** **6**

Within the span of a few days a sorcery class had been arranged for the little trio of students and worked into their schedules. While Liir wasn't complaining about having the redhead in another of his classes (more chances for tutoring) he hadn't expected the girls to be happy about it—_But_, neither of them had complained about being forced to work together in addition to sharing a residence. It could be that Annette was feeling smug about getting in, even if she seemed to be the only one who didn't doubt the merit on which her acceptance was gained.

The girl with glasses, on the other hand, didn't seem to like being there period in spite of the fact that she was the one who most blatantly required it. She never openly complained and listened to Morrible attentively, taking notes and answering questions directed at her. However, _unlike_ in her other classes Morrible practically had to drag the answers from her even though she clearly knew them. She was holding back.

Raye still maintained her friendship with Jack, sneaking away to visit him and smuggling him apples and other vegetable treats when she could. However, the next drastic change in the school was to happen only a few days after sorcery class's commencement.

One evening Raye walked into the room she shared with Annette to have her roommate rush at her trying to scratch her, a crazed look on her face. It was a good thing for the 'Campus Queen' that the door was shut or she might have been caught in a moment that she wouldn't like too many to remember. Raye grabbed her wrists before those scratching fingers could reach any part of her face.

"Where is it? What have you done with it?" the rich girl snarled

"Done with what?" Raye asked incredulously, still keeping a firm grip on the other girl's wrists

"You know what! My hair-care products are missing!"

"What your blonde-in-a-bottle?" the red head inquired coolly, arching a fine eyebrow.

"HAIR CARE PRODUCTS!" Annette roared in her face "Where have you put them? Who have you given them to?"

"No where and no one. I haven't taken them, I don't have any use for them."

"Except to blackmail me!" Annette hissed, "To ruin me!"

"I don't care about school politics, and your hair colour is irrelevant to me. Who else have you let in here?" Suddenly the blonde froze, eyes wide as she tried to remember all the different, shallow girls that had come in and out, used the bathroom, been where she couldn't see…

"Someone is going to expose me to everyone, I'll bet its that little back-stabbing leech!" she cried, turning away as Raye released her wrists

"You're going to have to elaborate, that describes too many of your friends." The other girl said in a bored tone. She named one of the girls that was always hanging around the blonde now, one who had already usurped several others on the 'Food chain'.

"And to m-make matters w-worse," Annette wailed as tears started to run down her face, "Aunt Gl-Glinda t-told me that if I d-d-don't get at least a C p-plus in literature studies she is g-g-g-g-going to revoke my wardrobe allowance and c-c-cancel our w-w-w-winter tri-i-i-ip!" she burst into a fresh batch of tears and threw herself onto her bed to cry her heart out... rather loudly

Looking at the annoying, selfish girl, Raye began to pity her. She wondered if Annette really was like the way she acted, or if she was trying to emulate her hero. Could anyone really blame her for wanting to impress the woman that took more interest in her then her own parents?

A few minutes later Annette gasped and jerked when a hand gingerly touched her shoulder.

"Look, I know we don't exactly see eye to eye, but is this really that important to you?" Rhonaraye asked, a look of concern on her face. The blonde nodded slowly. She really looked pathetic. Her mascara and other make-up had started to run, making her look like a freshly painted sculpture left out in the rain. Her roommate groaned and ran a hand down her face.

"I just know I'm going to regret this," she grumbled as she heaved a great sigh "But I could tutor you in Literature and Languages, maybe try to get your mark up before Lurlinemas holidays. As for the other thing, I have an idea."

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"Why are we here Throular?" Annette asked. They were in the little drugstore in the school grounds at the hair-care product section.

"Just trust me." Rhonaraye said as she plucked a bottle from the shelf and handed it to her roommate. "Now go buy that." Taking the bottle from her warily, Annette went and purchased the hair dye. Once they had slipped back into their room the taller girl pulled the rich one into the bathroom by her wrist and took the bottle from her,

"I assume you know how to put this on?" she said as she held it in front of her face. Annette nodded and Raye smiled brightly "Good. Put a streak of it in your hair."

"Why?"

"Because you're going to start a fashion trend."

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The next morning Glinda the Good's niece surprised everyone with her new hairstyle, a blue streak in her golden blonde hair.

"Well you see, I just HAD to try this look, I saw it on a gypsy from Quadling country once and while it looked terrible on her, I knew I could pull it off, but the first time round I bought blonde hair colouring instead of blue…" she prattled to the crowds the next day. They all reacted the same way they always did; showering praise and hollow flattery on her. Meanwhile Raye watched the girl that Annette thought had stolen the incriminating proof of her roommate's rather lame falsehood. When she had a free period, she slipped into that particular social climber's room and retrieved the bottle of hair dye without a problem.

Why she was doing this for someone she didn't even like that much, she wasn't sure.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the opinions both girls held for each other seemed to change as the tutoring sessions progressed. Raye found that underneath all that make-up and glitter, there was actually a human being that was even somewhat intelligent. She also felt a little sorry for the image-obsessed blonde. Annette was trying so hard to impress this Glinda person, and the redhead wondered if the adored "St. Glinda" was really as perfect as everyone liked to believe but didn't bother trying to say anything in front of the other girl.

One week before Lurlinemas break, the students received their first term report card. It was at this time that Raye was barrelled into by something puffy, fluffy and pink at the post office and found herself taken into a great hug by Annette

"OOOHHH! I did it!" the girl squealed, nearly falling in the snow because of her high heels, but her roommate caught and steadied her

"You passed?" she inquired

"Oh yes! I did! I even got a B minus! Thank you!"

"I didn't do anything." Raye said, holding the shorter girl at arm's length to avoid another hug. "All you had to do was hand in your assignments once in a while and actually look at a textbook before a test."  
"Yes, I did do it myself didn't I?" the blonde said cheerily. Raye started to roll her eyes before her roommate gave her another bone-crushing

"But you helped a little, so thank you!" Raye felt a little overwhelmed and struggled to disentangle herself from the blonde's clutching arms.

"Yes, yes, yes alright. Now _let go_." She said briskly, prying the other girls hands away from her with difficulty "Aren't you worried that one of your gaggle of…what are they? Group? Fan club? Will see you consorting with social enemy number 1?" Annette waved this off

"Oh forget about them. When will you be leaving for the holidays?"

"Quick to get rid of me aren't you?"  
"Oh no, nothing like that, I'm leaving in two days, we should celebrate!"

"Ah, no. I don't do dances. Or parties."

"Those are tomorrow night silly! You should still come!"

"No."

"Oh well, its nearly curfew, come on!" Annette giggled, taking her roommate by the wrist and skipping away, nearly falling several times

"No wait, but I have to-" Raye began, looking back towards the post office as they rounded a corner.

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In the meantime a Donkey was waiting for his friend to show up like she had said she would. It was cold, and he had to get back to work soon. He sighed. She had been spending less and less time with him after starting that tutoring stuff. Well, he should have expected it. She was a human after all, they were all the same. Still, he refused to be hurt. He would be angry instead. If she didn't want to spend time with him, that was her fault and her loss.

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"I know what we should do!" Annette said later that night.

"No." Her roommate interrupted upon seeing the look on the other girl's face before snapping the make-shift curtain that they had put up to divide their room shut

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" Annette whined, pulling it back

"I'm not telling you any secrets. You're not really interested in them and I do not feel like sharing them. End of story." She said as she closed the book she had been reading until then. They were both dressed in their nightclothes, Annette in a fancy bright pink dressing gown with a frilly white trim and low v-neck. The waist tie was a bright blue and her silk slippers were the same colour. It even managed not to clash with the glittery blue streak in Annette's golden-dyed hair. Raye on the other hand, was in a thick brown woollen shift with no decorations and (like most of her clothes) a couple of patches.

"Oh come on! Just one teensy-weensy one, please?"

"No."

"Well fine then! Be antisocial!"

"Works for me." Raye replied, opening her book again.

"Fine!" Annette huffed, offended that someone didn't want to gossip with her. After a few minutes of brushing her hair she heard a strange, partially muffled sound coming from Rhonaraye's side of the room. She was even more ticked when she realized what it was

"What are you laughing at?" she snapped, pulling back the partition again. The redhead was laughing but trying to muffle it with her sleeve.

"Sorry." She chocked, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to suppress the laughter that was bursting out of her, "It's just funny, I don't know why, but it is!" just then Annette giggled, and that giggle turned into a laugh and before either of them knew it, they were having a pillow fight. When they were done, they collapsed back onto their separate beds, a little out of breath from laughing.

"Alright, you desperate for a secret?" Raye asked after a minute or two,

"Oooh, yes!"

"That…that was my first pillow fight." She said. After a moment she took off her glasses and set them on her bedside table before pulling the partition back, thereby ending the conversation. After a moment or two Annette turned off her light as well, though she didn't fall asleep for a quite a while.

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Liir didn't have a very restful night either, for he was once again plagued with really weird dreams. He'd been having odd dreams for a while now, but this one, quite frankly, disturbed him more then any.

This nightmare invariably involved him running for all he was worth up a set of stairs, somehow knowing that the life of somebody very dear to him was at stake. He would encounter some sort of door only to be blown away...the next thing he would see was an enshadowed body lying a short distance away. He knew it was dead and he knew it was a woman—a woman he loved dearly but didn't know who it was or what her relationship was to him. He would reach toward her to try and see the face and then…

Liir invariably jerked awake gasping for breath and in a cold sweat. He didn't know what it was or if it meant something but the boy knew it could not come to pass under any circumstances! If only he knew who it was in the dream…

His mother was a possibility and that scared him. Even if they didn't always quite understand each other, Elphaba and her son truly did love one another. At least…he loved her. He could never be sure of how far his mother's affection extended beyond primary maternal instinct to protect from immediate danger. Would she really sacrifice anything for him if she needed to? He wasn't quite sure.

How little he knew.

The next morning Liir met with Annette at Sorcery class. Rhonaraye was late. That in itself was unusual. You could time classes by her presence. When she walked in ten minutes later she moved quickly to the back of the classroom, into a shadowed corner, away from the other two in the seminar. Something was wrong. The young man couldn't tell what exactly, or how he could even tell, but it was like there was this uneasiness, this dread that lay within him, and yet…it wasn't _his _precisely.

"Do you have a reason for being late, Miss Throular?"

"No." the redhead replied shortly and…a little sullenly. The tone made Liir and Annette exchange glances. She _never_ talked to _teachers_ like that! Morrible didn't exactly take it well either.

"Excuse me?"

"I slept late? I tripped on the stairs? No, that one won't work, I don't have any bruises." She said, looking Morrible straight in the eye.

"I beg your pardon?" the fat little woman asked

"I was running through the excuses that you expect from me. None of them are valid in this case of course." She said, leaning back in her chair a little.

"Miss Throular! I realize that it is only one more day before Lurlinemas break but that is no excuse-"

"To be rude? Yes, I know. For your information, _someone_ decided it would be funny to take my books and hide them throughout the school grounds. I found one in a snow bank. That's why I'm late." She informed them flatly. Annette's mouth slowly opened, but she daintily covered it with her hand. However, as guilty as his friend looked, Liir, for some reason, didn't quite buy it. Looking over discreetly, he noticed that there was a minimal amount of snow on her dress, just a light dusting, and underneath looked to be only damp, certainly not enough for her to have been kneeling in snow. She was lying.

Catching her eye, he heard it again, though this time he recognised it as a thought, for her lips didn't move.

_You have proof that I'm not telling the truth? _She challenged him mentally. This time she was clearly aware of his presence, _Then go ahead and tell Horrible Morrible. _

_ I won't tell. _ He "replied" _IF you'll tell me why. _

She made no reply, and the lesson continued. They didn't really do anything much though, just an introductory lesson about the original finding of the grimmerie.

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That afternoon Annette was passing by one of the storage sheds with her luggage when she spied her roommate by the door to one of them. When she called out her name the taller girl whipped around, closing the door that was directly behind her back slowly

"Annette…what are you doing here?" she asked a little hesitantly

"I'm on my way to the coach. Liir and I are going back to the Emerald city for the Holidays, aren't you going to miss your coach?"

"That would be difficult, considering that there isn't one coming." The girl replied dryly.

"Why ever not?" the blonde inquired. Her roommate shrugged

"Train tickets are expensive. I'm staying here for the holidays."

"Oh. That's not fun." Annette replied quietly, feeling even guiltier. How could her friends have pulled that stunt with the books? She knew they'd been giving the misfit a hard time for her sake, but hadn't intended it to go that far especially not now.

"Hey, don't let a sad story dent your preppy look. I neither need nor want pity cause I know whatever job and credentials I get, I'll have _earned_." She told her coldly before walking away, leaving Annette a bit perplexed. What exactly had she said, and why was her roommate so prickly again all of a sudden? When the blonde went back up to her room to get her things she found that they were already in the dorm lounge room being loaded and the door was locked. This made her angry. Honestly, she had not said a word that could have been interpreted as some form of insult! What was wrong with Rhonaraye?

Annette was still seething when she and Liir then left for the Emerald city. Unknown to them was that they were secretly watched as well as publically bidden farewell as a tall, slender young woman with glasses observed from the upper story library window. Everyone was leaving quickly, she was glad of that. She couldn't have them find her visitor. Once it was getting dark and her sanctuary was closing the young sorceress slipped on her coat and made it back to her dorm room through the frozen cobblestones, looking forward to some peace and quiet…which she probably wouldn't get at the moment.

The school seemed an almost eerie place without the babbling hoard of students. _It's strange_, Raye thought to herself, _I don't like the crowds, but I'm not sure I like being alone in these stone walls either. _It was a bit of a mixed blessing all around, especially because of what she had smuggled away in her room the minute that Annette had left. Walking up the stairs to the little apartment she took out her key and "accidentally" fumbled with it, hitting the knob in a seemingly random series of clatters.

Upon seeing the open window she clenched her teeth and took a deep breath to calm herself. Walking over to it, she leaned out to grab the little flag that had been hung out by the sill.

"Like it?" A very feminine, exotically accented voice purred from behind her. Turning around slowly Raye held up the flag in front of the pair of round yellow eyes that were now level with her own.

"What part of _low profile _is unclear?" she asked in a weary tone that was surprisingly calm.

"I thought you'd like it." The other occupant whined, snatching the piece of fabric back. It was the symbol of the rebellion.

"I'm not as flamboyant as you are Muhlama, and besides, you aren't supposed to be here, remember? That little spat you had with the Coach Driver in September put you back onto their "urgent" wanted list, and don't pretend that isn't exactly what you wanted, Princess with your, _I'm the best Cat Burglar in all of Oz!"_

"Well I'm a Cat, a Princess and I'm good at burgling. What's not to brag about?" The Feline purred as she hopped onto the redhead's bed and stretched out her lithe form, putting her paws behind her head. Rhoaraye sighed and rolled her eyes as she continued

"Besides, I'm not just here because I am on the run…again…alright that might be part of it but it is not the only reason!"

The redhead crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the window sill

"Then what is?" she asked testily. Muhlama became serious and sat up, her striped ivory tail swishing slightly

"The Council sent me of course, why else?" She suddenly seemed to think better of her question and quickly added "Don't answer that." The Tigress watched her gawky human friend stiffen.

"The council?" she enquired in a carefully controlled tone "What do they want?"

"Oh please." Muhlama scoffed "You know why. Morrible will be taking this holiday opportunity to organize a little outing for you and your little friends."

"You can't know that, we just started—"

"That's _how she works_ Raye! She has done it before, with the Wicked Witch of the West."

The young woman's eyes widened slightly.

"I'll get packed." She said as she headed for the drawers which housed her few meagre belongings only to find the Ivory Tigress blocking her path. Damn she could move fast!

"What are you, a fool? Why do you think you are here? Seriously, answer this one." The Cat said.

"To eventually be a sleeper agent, maybe a safehouse keeper. I'm the right species for it anyway…"

"Bah! Come on, you are smarter then that, no? Think bigger! We need someone on the inside..."

"You've got people on the inside." Raye interrupted with exasperation

"At the very top!" Muhlama finished. For several long moments there was silence which was finally broken by the redhead as she backed away a step.

"What?" she demanded in a mixture of incredulity and anger

"They knew Morrible would collect you—"

"I didn't know Morrible would 'collect me'!" Raye half-yelled, pointing to herself for emphasis.

"They've known you had some power for ages, just not how much."

"Wait a minute, you've known about this? And you've known that it wasn't some-some mutation? And you never told me? What in the 7 hells Muhlama! You let me worry about my sanity for the last 5 _years_ every time you stayed at my place? And what about now? What if I don't _want_ to go to the Wizard? What if I don't _want_ to be their next sparkly puppet? I've done everything the rebellion has ever asked of me. What about what I want to do?" she raged. Suddenly the Cat's eyes flashed dangerously and she took a menacing step towards her

"Don't you dare speak to me of being able to do what one likes! Every single one of me and my Brethren suffer in slavery every single day! So no, maybe I don't care about what you want! I will have my freedom one day, and you are not going to take it away from me or any of us because you do not like the Carp! So as you might say, suck it up!"

Neither of the two backed down as they glared at each other. It was the first real fight the two had ever had in their strange little friendship. Again it was Rhonaraye who broke it

"Does my family know about this little plan of yours?" she asked in a voice that was tight with hurt and rage. Muhlama opened her mouth and then closed it, her golden eyes looking at the floor in apparent shame.

"Well that's at least a relief." Raye said. "Not everyone thinks Im nothing but aworthless pawn."

"Oh get off the horse that is high!" the Cat snapped "You _owe_ it to us! You have no right to refuse!"

The redhead's nostrils flared in indignation and she decided to get out before the Tigress got a chance to see her cry. She strode over to where she had discarded her coat and scarf, picking it up in one swift graceful motion as she headed for the door.

"Fine. " She snapped as she spread her arms wide, the coat dangling slightly off her arm. "You win. You always do, don't you? Because I'm such a pathetic little thing that the bloody guilt trip always works, right? Try to stay out of trouble for the next few hours, Iskinaary will get here tomorrow to take you home. Unlike me, _you'll_ be with your Family for Lurlinemas." She told the Cat bitterly before throwing the key at her to lock the door from within. The small piece of metal zipped through the air viciously but was nevertheless caught casually by Muhlama. The Tiger Princess flinched uncharacteristically when Rhonaraye strode out of the room and slammed the door shut with a bang.

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Meanwhile, as they were pulling into the drive that went to the palace, Liir couldn't help but wonder about his girlfriend's roommate. What had she been hiding, and why was it that they could tell what the other was thinking? He'd tried to see if it was a magical aspect that they shared on the way up there, seeing if he could tell what Annette was thinking, or the Driver, or even Morrible, though his effort had admittedly not been his most ardent attempt. Since she had arrived at the School, he had felt increasingly wary of the Press Secretary, especially since his dreams had increased in strength and frequency, though whether they were nonsense or important he couldn't tell yet. He intended to ask his mother about them when he had the chance. The carriage gave a little lurch as it came to a halt in front of the palace. Liir got out first and held out a hand to assist Morrible down, then Annette appeared at the door, arms straight and reaching. He flashed his stellar grin and moved forward so that she could put her hands on his shoulders and he could put his on her waist. He placed her on the floor, but instead of releasing her they hugged. The chirp of a Monkey caused Liir to whip around before they could kiss. To his utter surprise, his mother was standing at the top of the steps that led to the palace from the street with Lady Glinda just behind her. The two teenagers leapt away from each other as though they'd received and electric shock.

"Mother! Aunt Glinda!" he sputtered.

"Relax Liir. I'm not about to Hex my own son for having a girlfriend, even if it's a Glinda clone." Elphaba said in her usual dry, bored tone, the barest hint of a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth which turned into a small smile as her son walked up the steps a little sheepishly. "Come inside." She said gently, extending her arm in invitation and wrapping both an arm and part of her cloak around his shoulders awkwardly when she noticed him shivering. Chistery kept even closer to her then usual, clutching her hand when he saw Morrible looking at him in her scathing, scheming way. He no longer had the power of Speech, but he wasn't as senile or as stupid as many assumed. He could well remember flying desperately in the cold and wind and rain trying to keep a precious little bundle warm and alive…

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"I have something for you Liir." Elphaba said when they were at the door to her tower room. Liir was amazed at his mother's physical fitness, she wasn't even out of breath and he was sweating and panting from climbing all those stairs! He couldn't help but wonder where they were going.

"You…do?" he panted, surprised. "But Lurlinemas isn't for another-"

"Week? Yes I know. New Years comes first, this is a reward for your report card." The Green woman said as she led him into her workroom. The boy stopped and gave her an amazed look. No one ever went in there except for hius mother and those who could override her wishes (The Wizard and Morrible). Glinda had been in there once in a while, but otherwise Elphaba barred anyone from entering. Yet, here he was.

When the green witch pushed the door open her son's jaw dropped. He'd no idea all the amazing materials and objects she had up here! Not to mention the amount of Flying Monkeys there actually _were_! The sound of a chest opening brought his attention back to his mother, who was opening a chest he hadn't seen before. When she stood, she held a long parcel in her arms.

"Here," she said handing it to him, "This was your father's."

"My…father's?" he asked, stunned. The green-skinned woman nodded.

"Open it." She prompted

The teenager looked at her for reassurance that he had heard correctly and then moved the cloth back to reveal what it was he was holding…

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Meanwhile Glinda, after managing to send her young cousin off to her rooms with a present was walking down the halls holding a hand-mirror to her face. She touched her cheek and craned her head this way and that to both admire her reflection as well as double check how well she had concealed the latest cut in a string of 'accidents'. It seemed that the large flowery ornament and elaborate hairstyle had done the trick. She didn't want Elphie to see it and start asking questions again…after all, he had said he was sorry…And how many more options did she have left? She was getting older every day and it was taking more make up to hide the wrinkle lines. She didn't feel that she could do better then a wealthy Count at this point.

When she passed by the back door to Morrible's office the blonde was pulled out of her internal musings by the sound of people talking.

"…are you certain?" a male voice asked. It sounded almost metallic.

"Of course I'm not you stupid piece of tin! We need more information! That's why I want _you_ to go to Munchkinland and ask around! That simpering little ninny and that ridiculous excuse for a Lion should be able to give you a hand." That was Morrible alright.

"While you're at it, see if you can find that brainless friend of yours, and ask him what he's been getting up to the past decade and half."

"I see. I shall not fail you Madame." The metallic voice answered. Glinda pressed herself against the wall as the door opened, which luckily hid her from view, but regrettably obscured her vision of what was going on. She heard a clunking sound which got dimmer as it moved away and heard a dark chuckle from Morrible

"Having heartless help can be _so_ useful."

**So, thoughts? Questions? Comments? Concerns? I love getting feedback!**

**Speaking of which, Reviewers:**

**Anna Marie Raven: **Glad you liked the twin-bond, there will be plenty more where that came from, trust me.

**lizziemagic: **Well, here's some more for you! Have a good time at band camp, I'll miss your reviews!

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **That's okay, you're not slow! I point it out later. Basically the idea for it was that they couldn't giver either of her parents' real last names so they combined the two and had a whole new surname that wouldn't arouse too much suspicion. Maybe Glinda's cousin grew on you a little more here? Not a huge deal if not. The important OC is Rhonaraye.

**WickedWriteroftheWest: **Yeah, I have fun with the idea of mages, as you'll see when you continue reading (especially in part 2!) I figured that she had to be different from Elphaba but still a "prize" that would catch Morrible's attention and still be a force to be reckoned with.

Thanks again to all of my reviewers! I hope you all continue to read and enjoy and, of course, review!


	10. Part 1 Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sigh. Too bad, eh?

**Okay, another nice big chapter for you guys today. Read and Review please. Answers to reviews left are at the end of the chapter. Only 2 reviews? Aww. Oh well. lizzemagic and BeautifullyTragicGirl, you're awesome! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Read and REVIEW please! **

**Part 1 chapter** **7**

It was New Year's Eve at the Academy. Muhlama had left a couple of days earlier which allowed Raye to relax a bit. She had checked in on her once and neither had spoken to each other before or during the Tiger Princess's departure.

Jack and the other Animal workers were sleeping, even though they didn't have to work the next morning (another of the motions pushed through by the Vizier). They siezed the opportunity to rest during their brief holiday. However, about a quarter of an hour before Midnight, Jack awoke drowsily to a gentle tap on his shoulder and his name murmured.

"What do you want?" he asked his redheaded "friend" grumpily

"It's a whole new year in a few minutes." Raye replied in a whisper. She had a candle in one hand, but what he hadn't seen was that it was set into a sort of cupcake.

"What's that?" Jack asked

"Oh, it's for you. A peace offering." She said casually, holding out to him slightly. They'd had a bit of an argument a little while ago, right after Muhlama had appeared, which had been another reason why she had been late. Jack had lashed out angrily at her (somewhat out of hurt and somewhat out of jealousy) and she had snapped back. But they both knew that each was the only friend the other felt they could count on. That position on Jack's part however had been jeopardised recently by Liir's appearance in the girl's time schedule and (even more recently) Annette's.

Reaching over, the Donkey blew out the candle, a silent agreement to put the argument behind them and go back to being friends, leaving them in the moonlight shining through the hole in the roof. Raye smiled and sat back against the stall wall, getting herself comfortable.

"So, any New Year's Wishes?" she asked as she folded her legs underneath her. The Donkey grunted in a definite negative

"Lurlinemas?" she prompted. He shook his head as he replied

"I gave up on wishes a long time ago; you never struck me as the wishing type either."

"I'm not." Raye informed him with a shrug "It's more for fun, and to say what you really want or want to happen with the safety net of the knowledge that it won't happen. So," she finished, "What would you wish for?"

Jack mulled the thought over in his head for a while

"Other than freedom?" he asked, the girl nodded. (That was a given) The Donkey sighed "To see my family again, and to see…to see my…my mate."

"Mate? You've been holding out on me. What her name? What's she like?"

Moving awkwardly on his knees, Jack inched over to his troth and pulled out an old picture. In it he was standing with his head close to that of a beautiful black Horse with a white star on her forelock and a long flowing mane over a beautifully arched neck.

"Her name is Mirisee. I haven't seen her in months. We'd just agreed to be mates, but then I was sold. There was a Pigeon friend of hers relayed messages for us, but he only stayed about a month."

"I'm so sorry." Raye breathed. She reached out a hand to his shoulder comfortingly. "The atrocities going on here—its so…wrong!"

"I guess it could be worse. But you aren't getting off Scot-free, what's your wish?"

Raye seemed to take forever in answering, in fact before she did, the sounds of partially drunken men cheering "Haa-p-py Newyear!" (pronounced like that in those slurred syllables)

"Happy New year." Raye told her companion with a smile.

"You too. Now what's your wish?"

Once again she took a while to mull her thoughts over, but when she finally answered, he was a little perplexed, and more than a little dissatisfied

"Same as yours. Freedom." She murmured almost inaudibly, her pale eyes had a faraway look behind her glasses for a little while before she jerked a little and seemed to come back down to earth. She looked at her friend looking at the photograph sadly and got an idea.

"Hey, what would you say if you could see her again?" she asked him as she slipped a notebook and pen out of her bag. The Donkey still had his eyes glued on the picture.

"I don't know." He said "That…I love her. I miss her, I think about her all the time…" he continued on like this for a little and actually left a truly touching message. Rhonaraye took down the entire thing, read it once and then ripped the paper out of the notebook and used her powers to burn it to a crisp before leaning back against the wall of the stall with her notebook resting on her knees.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked her warily

"Do they know the Mondadill encryption code in the emerald city?" she murmured as she wrote furiously

"Do you?" Jack demanded. This girl was just full of surprises…the only people who knew that code were Animals, Animal rebellion members at that. It was the most recent code but it had already been taught to most Animals in the lower city and other areas as a method of calling for help. It was only about 2 years old, but no one had ever even caught onto it yet.

"I helped some friends of mine write it. After it worked, they sent me here. My guardians wanted me to get an education and some socialization and…others thought it would useful for…somewhat less self-centered things."

"You're a—" Jack was cut off by a hand flying to his mouth to keep him from saying anything incriminating that could be overheard.

"No." She murmured as she looked around in a somewhat paranoid way "Not yet anyway." The redhead moved her hand from his mouth and looked over her shoulder again with a slight swallow. Quickly, she changed the subject.

"I have something to show you tomorrow, but I'll let you get your rest now." She said as she started to get up, only to swiftly crouch as a bunch of the drunken human workers ploughed in loudly and clumsily. They startled Jack too, and he jerked his head in the direction of his hay pile for her to scoot under. He then positioned himself in front of it and feigned sleep so that when the intoxicated foreman came looked over he just saw an exhausted Donkey in its stall. Once the sounds of slurred, off-key singing and the clatter of things being dropped or pushed over died down Rhonaraye peaked out from under the pile of straw. The men were gone but several of the Animal workers were now looking at the girl and Donkey.

"Perhaps you should stay here for the rest of the night." A Horse said from the stall next to Jack's. It was the same Horse who had been puling the carriage that first day of school.

"Sorry?" she asked quietly, surprised

"Touching a student, even a scholarship one, isn't allowed but in their state…well who knows what they might do." A Cow said from across the aisle, "You're safe with us."

"Any child of such par-" an Ox started to say but was cut off as the Cow kicked him "Of such par...ticular intelligence!" he recovered, "Of such smarts, yes, ought to be encouraged." He finished, though Raye hadn't missed that little slip. However, for the meantime she let it go and laid her head back in the straw. Many of her fellow students would have found it scratchy and uncomfortable, but not her. To the redhead, this reminded her of home and loved ones that she couldn't be with this holiday season… …

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Liir couldn't remember the last time he'd felt able to talk to his mother so freely. She'd changed so much over the last few months! Or was it that he had changed? It could have been that she finally saw him as worthy enough to be a little more honest with, or maybe he was a little more willing to open up to her after being without her blunt, straight foreword lecturing, or rather (now that he thought about it) attempted guidance. Perhaps a bit of both, or maybe he was just noticing how much she was trying now. Whatever it was, the two of them spent that New Year's Eve in her Tower room with the Monkeys, conversing to each other by the fireplace, Liir's present hanging over the mantle with the steel of the sword glinting in the firelight. It wasn't like the Gale Force swords though. It was a little shorter and heavier. The handle was bound by leather rather then a gold filigree and there were strange markings on the blade and handle that looked almost…spiritual.

"So Liir, you're having fun at the academy?" Elphaba asked as she settled into one of the comfy chairs by the fireplace with a hot mug of herbal tea

"Yes."

"You also seem to be doing quite well. Your marks haven't been this high since your second year of primary school." She said as she stroked Chistery's head gently. The ancient Monkey was sitting in her lap like a small child with his arms around her neck.

"Well, I can't really take the credit for that. A classmate was the one who actually got me to sit down and work on things."

"Yes you mentioned a study partner in your letters, but you didn't say a name." Elphaba remarked as she took a sip from her drink.

"Oh, Rhonaraye." Liir replied as he sipped his own warm beverage. The Green woman froze a moment and then replaced the mug on its coaster slowly.

"Really? Rhonaraye…that's kind of funny. You could get Nari out of that if you were just talking."

"I guess you could." Liir shrugged, a little uncomfortable with where this was going.

"You don't remember Nari?" His mother asked sceptically with a raised eyebrow. The teenager shook his head and she pressed further "Your imaginary friend? Good Grief, you only stopped talking to her about 5 years ago."

"What?" Liir asked, then sputtered, "Y-you…"

"Yes I knew you talked to her when you thought no one was listening in your pre-teen years. I'm not that hopeless I hope." She informed him, smiling a little at his flush, "Don't be embarrassed." She said plainly. There was a knock on the window and she got to her feet, still carrying Chistery to let another Monkey in. This one had a piece of paper for her. She took it, read it, and then put it down on a table to write something on it.

"So…" her son said after a few minutes awkward silence, desperately looking for another topic to discuss, "How many Monkeys are flying around now?"

The green woman looked up with slight, pleased surprise and set Chistery down. As she did so, she switched the quill to her other hand to continue writing as she carefully deposited the winged Monkey on the floor. Liir noted this, and couldn't help but be reminded of a redhead displaying a similar skill.

"A little more than 3 dozen the last time I counted them." Elphaba told him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "One of the females is going to have another soon though, Chistery's great-grandchild"  
"They don't seem to live as long as other Animals." Liir commented

"That's because they are on the cusp between Animal and animal, thanks to your beloved grandfather." She said bitterly, though while Liir noticed the edge in her tone completely and actually acknowledged it for the first time, he let it go and they continued their otherwise pleasant conversation.

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Lurlinemas passed without anymore fuss than was normal, though it was on that day that Rhoaraye took the opportunity to show Jack what it was she had been waiting to discuss with him.

"Look at this book." She said, carefully removing a time-worn volume from her bag. It was an ancient, but sturdy book with a brown leather cover that was bound with golden yarn. There was a strange set of runes written on it and some kind of jewel set into the centre of the cover that was surrounded by a circle which resembled the root or bark of some sort of tree. The pages were yellowed with age, but in amazing condition. "I took it from the forbidden section of the Library."

"You did **_what_**?" Jack asked incredulously, Raye NEVER broke rules involving the Library, and broke the ones that prohibited her from talking to, or being friends with him.

"I couldn't help it, it was like-like it was calling me or something. I kept dreaming about the shelf I found it on and in the back of my head, it was like I could hear these whispers, these-these echoes until I picked this up. I don't think anyone knows it was even in there. I can't find it on the Library book Catalogue." She said quickly, a little surprised at herself.

"What's in it?" the Donkey asked after a minute or two, referring to the dialect.

"I'm not sure. It's in a strange language, the characters look like runes of some kind…" she said as she opened the book to show him. Jack's eyes widened

"I can't read myself, but all the Animals know what magic runes look like."

"Can you read it?"

"Didn't I just say I couldn't? Animals are forbidden to read past sign posts. Besides, its not in Common tongue, that much I can tell."

"I know, but…I _can_, a little anyway, if I really put my mind to it."

"You can read this?" the Donkey asked incredulously

"Didn't I just say that I could?"

"Alright, alright, what does it say?" Jack pressed, his curiosity eating at him now as he leaned his neck over to get a better look at the words.

"It's not in common tongue." She reminded him. He gave her an annoyed and impatient glare and she cleared her throat, "Ata naetuiem mei-orons ka tumae Grimmerie..." She murmured "This is the Grimmerie of Mages. Use it well." She translated, a distant look in her eye

"Wait! Raye, the page! Look!" The Donkey exclaimed, bring her attention back to the task at hand. The runes were changing, rearranging themselves, shifting, appearing and disappearing, forming new words and symbols. Again the human read them out in the language first and then translated them in a strangely distant voice, as if it wasn't her saying the words that translated the cryptic into common, but only within her mind this time, since she wasn't sure she had fully understood it this time. She stopped and shook her head, closing the book with a thud. She was breathing deeply and quicker than normal.

"I can't do this." She breathed, more to herself than to her companion

"Do what?"

"Never mind." She said abruptly, ending that conversation.

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Winter vacation was over far too soon in the opinion of the student body as they returned for second term. Soon classes were resumed and the petty politics of school life came right along with them.

Sorcery was not the most…relaxing of classes. Morrible seemed determined to force Raye to perform spells from a piece of paper day after day, and the redhead was fighting her with ever-increasing stubbornness.

"Say the words!" Morrible commanded for umpteenth time that day. Liir and Annette rather hoped that their teacher would give up already, they felt burnt out just by all the ducking they had needed to do so far.

"I _can't_!" Raye snapped. Her previous attempts were evident by the scorch marks on the walls. It was almost funny. The tall redhead was brilliant in all her classes save two. One was Sorcery class where she fought Morrible the entire way and the other was, weirdly enough, history—something which surprised her friends and teachers given her excellent memory. Yet in spite of that she insisted on the most outlandish ideas like an _Animal_ founding the first and Greatest University in Oz; Shiz or that the Tyrant Ozma Tippertarious was nothing of the sort and a mere child when the Wizard overthrew her. These were all very strange ideas, but not what either of her classmates were focusing on at the moment as their friend slammed her hands down onto the desk in frustration.

"I'm not good at this kind of magic! Maybe I'm just not that 'talented'."

The other two students snorted. That was a rather poor play really. Evidence of the raw power she possessed existed all over the classroom as attempts at small spells had exploded into catastrophes.

"Nonsense, give it one more try." The little woman hinted. The girl let out a groaning sigh and slumped over the desk with her chin resting in her hand, her gaze somewhere at the edge of the table.

"Aviantarae ta-tum a-tum nos-tae a-tum » she muttered, and this time the little globe of light formed and merely danced around the room for a little while before halting in front of her. Liir and Annete breathed out a sigh of relief. It hadn't exploded. They didn't have to fear for their clothing and perfect skin for the time being. Morrible straightened with a smug smile on her face.

"You see, you _can_ do it." The Press Secretary said smugly "You shouldn't hold yourself back." Just then the bell rang to go to the next class. Raye slumped in relief, her head going to rest on her arms which were leaning on the table.

"Thank you!" she hissed to herself, jerking when she felt a hand on her shoulder

_You alright? _Liir 'asked'

"Get out of my head." She muttered.

"Aren't you going to rush to class like you normally do?" he inquired verbally

"Free period." She replied in a grumble

"Really? Us too." Liir said brightly as he and Annette sat down beside her. She then got up and walked out of the room, but they followed her.

"I see, it's an antisocial mood today." Annette said absentmindedly as she practically had to run to keep up with Rhonaraye's long, powerful strides, but nevertheless continued chattering at her "I mean ever since we started planning that dance you've been more moody than ever!"

"I think its Madame Morrible she doesn't care for." Liir said offhandedly. Raye threw him one of her chilling glares and continued down to the Library. They still followed her.

"Why are you still following me? I'm sure you have other friends that are just dying to bask in your glow!"

Liir shrugged "It's a refreshing change sometimes." At that the tall girl laughed

"Now I have to admit, I never thought I'd hear that from-" she was cut off by a whole gaggle of fans…friends…groupies…(what did one call them?) pushing past her to surround the campus royalty. The Universe was back in alignment.

With a roll of her eyes she pushed through the large doors to the library, found her little out-of-the-way corner and cautiously took out her book.

"What do you mean?" she hissed at it, opening the ancient text. She had plenty of time, the free period she had today was the last one of the school day, (which ended at around 3:00) and the library didn't close until around 7:00 or 8:00.

She needed to ensure that she had plenty of time, she could so easily get lost in the pages of this text. They were both terrible, and wonderful; frightening and comforting. How could one book stir such conflicting feelings within such an opinionated individual? She could go on an on within her mind, but concentrated instead on the strange runes…

Reading it was somewhat difficult. She had to move slowly, feeling like she had when she'd attempted to read a 410 pg classical novel when she was 6. She'd possessed a reading level of someone 5 years older than she, but not 11 years-the level that the book had been. Rhoaraye smiled to herself at that memory. One of her guardians, a very wise and intelligent Goat, who had conducted her education until her arrival at the academy (He'd once told her that he had been a professor at a University once) hadn't allowed her to give up and had assisted her with the words and phrases she didn't understand. Thinking of her three guardians made her just a little bit homesick. How she missed them all!

_Well_ she thought to herself, coming back to the present, _You aren't a child anymore, and its time you took care of things yourself, so stop grumbling and work at it. So one code doesn't lie down for you easily? This is life! It isn't simple, or easy or fair. So get down to it and concentrate!_

The girl then proceeded to immerse herself in the runes as she slowly uncovered the mysteries it held.

At around 4-ish, Liir managed to give his 'friends' the slip and made his way to the library, during which he ran into the Donkey, Jack.

"Oh. Hello Jack." He said as he passed by him. The Animal stopped and turned slowly

"You were talkin' to me?" he asked disbelievingly

"Yes, I was. Have you seen Rhonar-" he stopped, that did sound a little too much like the long form of 'Nari', "Have you seen Raye?"

"She's still in the library."

"With that book she tried to hide?" Liir inquired. Jack's eyes narrowed

"You aren't as dumb as you look, or sound, or act for that matter." He said more to himself then the boy, who in the meantime bridled at the comment

"Watch your tongue Donkey!" he blurted out before he could stop himself, regretting it immediately, "I'm sorry. Watching my mouth, it's taking some getting used to." The Donkey shrugged and continued his walk.

Liir entered the Library quietly and went over to the corner where he knew he'd find the feisty Red-head.

"Still reading that?" he asked, causing her to startle almost out of her chair. When he managed to catch her at a VERY rare moment of speechlessness he continued quickly,

"Have you made any progress?" when she still didn't answer he took out something from his bag and plunked another very ancient-looking book on the table in front of her with clatter. "Because I can't make heads or tails of the one I found."

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From that day forward, Liir and Rhonaraye spent and increasing amount of time together with those two books, Jack was often present as well, but Annette was not. During that time they learned a great deal about each other, though probably more Liir then Rhonaraye considering that, thanks to his relatives and connections, his life was an open book whereas hers was this great mystery.

One surprising aspect that Liir didn't quite know how he'd missed before (nor did Jack) was the fact that their grey-eyed companion was able to use both her left and right hands equally. They discovered this one day when they were copying something out for an assignment and a paper-ball came hurtling at them. Rhoaraye had been writing with her left hand, but caught the missile with her right without any difficulty.

"How'd you do that?" Liir demanded.

"I'm ambidextrous. I can write, catch and do anything that I can do with both hands." She said causally.

"Really? That's…pretty cool." The boy replied with a raised eyebrow. It _was_ very interesting. He only knew one other person like that; his mother.

Raye found it hard not to be jealous of the boy who could read that ancient tongue with such ease!

"Oh come on!" he exclaimed jokingly when she mentioned it in passing, "I gotta have _something_! _You've_ got the power, intelligence and 'presence'! Not to mention the strength to be your own person."

"What makes you think I'm my own person? Just because those who influence me aren't the same that influence you?" she inquired

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liir asked, confused and a little concerned now.

"Nothing."

"I know you better than that by now…"

"Who says?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Let's drop this topic now." She said, "Can you read this passage? It's tricky." Liir recognized the diversion on her part, and opened his mouth to protest, but then he caught the look on Jack's face. He and Annette had of course found out about Raye friendship with the Donkey eventually and while the blonde had originally scandalized, Liir had never had any problem with it. Right now Jack was sitting with them in the shade of a large tree.

The Donkey shook his head in a silent signal to the young man and he chose to let it go. She had been putting up with quite a bit recently, finally having allowed her roommate to slowly 'make her over', more out of a desire to get the pesky social butterfly off her back, though she did look quite attractive actually. She did have another reason that Jack was aware of, recently she had tested out a spell, a small one, and the result had been an improvement in her eyesight, meaning she no longer required glasses. Annette's little makeover provided a good excuse to stop wearing them.

"Liir," Raye asked after a moment's silence, "I think I've found out why this Grimmerie chose you."

"Why?"

"Well, there's more then one kind of magic-user, right? Well, I think you might be an Oracle."

"A what? I am **not** a fortune teller!"

"No, no you idiot! Those aren't _real_ Oracles! From what I understand of this, an Oracle, a true one that is, is almost as rare as a mage. They can tell the future, but also have some regular skill in Wizardry-or witchcraft-depending on the circumstances of course."

"You think?" Liir asked

"Darling! Oh Liir!" a familiar voice called excitedly as Annette skipped up the hill to under the tree that they were seated under. It was now spring and quite pleasant outside. Before she reached them they slipped their books into their bags.

"The Wizard has sent for us! All of us isn't that exciting?" Annette squealed as she wrapped her arms around Liir in a hug. Morrible was close behind her.

"Yes, my dear, it is. All three of you are to go see the Wizard."

"My Grandfather has sent for us?" Liir asked, "He thinks we're ready?"

"Yes! We're leaving within the next two days and spending another week or so on the road sight-seeing! Isn't it exciting?" Annette cried. Liir laughed and hugged her tighter, though Morrible noticed that their classmate wasn't as thrilled. She got to her feet quietly and attempted to slip away, except that the Magic "teacher" followed her.

"Aren't you excited to be granted an audience with the Wizard? It is quite an honour." Morrible inquired

"It's just that…" Raye began, a thousand retorts had come to mind immediately but she had controlled her tongue, "It's just that I-I don't think I'm ready." She stammered

"Nonsense." The Press Secretary pooh-poohed before trotting away.

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That night Annette was woken up…by her roommate of all things. Normally Rhonaraye was a very quiet sleeper, but not for the last little while. She'd been having some sort of dream repeatedly, but this time she was talking in her sleep.

"No…no…Farro…Farro! Ralima! Dr. Dillamond! Run!" she moaned, tossing and turning, "Not again…no…leave them alone!" she hissed. Finally Annette got out of bed and walked over to the red-head, shaking her in an attempt to wake her up.

"Throular! Throular! WAKE UP!" she cried. Finally the other girl jerked awake with a gasp, drenched in a cold sweat. For a few minutes she was silent, wide-eyed and trembling with remembered fear from the nightmare.

"Sorry." She said after a little while as she pulled her knees up to her chest, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with." Raye replied sharply, her defences leaping back up

"Please Raye," Annette said, "I'm your-or at least, I would like to be your friend. You see me and Liir as people, not prizes or ladders. That's why we like you."

"Please don't go sappy on me. It doesn't suit you, though since we're on that train anyway, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course!" Annette said, brightening. Maybe she was finally giving in and asking her about makeup! Or-or boys!

"Why do you dye your hair? And why do you pretend to be Glinda instead of yourself?"

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?" The smaller girl stammered, rising from her seat on Raye's bed. The other girl's gaze was penetrating and she refused to meet it

"You heard me. Why are you making yourself into a mere copy of another person? You know that originals are valued more don't you? In artwork, architecture _and _life."

"I don't want to talk about this."

"Fine, but you should think about it."

"Alright, don't forget that we're leaving tomorrow." At this the redhead went sullen. She turned over with her back to Annette and pulled the blankets up to her chin.

"How could I?" Raye muttered ruefully.

**Alright, so there we have it. Coming up next chapter; a stop at Munchkinland and a sneaky little trip off to another place that isn't exactly on Morrible's travel plans for one of them. Now, my 2 wonderful reviewers!**

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **_Hope you enjoyed the additional Liir/Elphaba moments in this chapter. There are a few more throughout the story as well. _

**lizziemagic: **_Yeah, I decided to alter that a little. When I was going over it to edit the story, it occured to me that her being there was a little bit of a plothole because there was no way she would have been sent to the school if they didn't want Morrible to sink her teeth into her. Her Guardians would have, because they would want her to have a normal, happy life, but not the rebellion unless there was something that could further their cause. Also, I wanted to make what comes later seem just as defiant as that of the previous generation, not like she was just obeying a different set of orders over the Wizard's. I hope you are enjoying band camp, I am glad that you enjoy this story so much._

**Thanks again to all of my reviewers! I hope you all continue to read and enjoy and, of course, review!**


	11. Part 1 Chapter 8

Disclaimer: If it were mine, would I seriously be writing FANfiction?

**_Alright, so the last chapter only got 2 reviews again so I'm wondering if I'm loosing people. Maybe this is already too long...which is not good because there is a LOT more to come. _**

**_lizziemagic and BeautifullyTragicGirl, you two are AWESOME! here are the answers to your reviews:_**

**_Beautifully Tragic Girl: _**_I think Fiyero and Elphie have a great gene pool, yes, Raye is quite like Elphie; First there's the obvious, second I figured that she had an upbringing that might have resulted in a similar sort of personality even if it is for different reasons. Anyway, hopefully you'll like this chapter and its little addition from the original story, just as well. _

**_lizziemagic:_**_ Here's your Fiyero appearence! Enjoy!_

**So, please read and review everyone, tell me what you think about the appearence of some other characters in this one please!**

**Pt 1 ch 8**

The little band that went on 'tour' consisted of Madame Morrible, Annette, Liir, Raye, a few Animal servants (Which included Jack) and one or two of the current crowd that was 'in favor' with the King and Queen of the school.

One of the last stops along the way was in Munchkinland of all places. Liir was curious to see the place that Elphaba was born but in which she would never set foot. He didn't see why she had such an aversion to it quite frankly. The people were quite…well tiny (He didn't know where her 5'9 came from) and perhaps somewhat comically deranged but they were at least—oh who was he kidding. His mother would hate it here. For such strange, quirky people they had an alarming intolerance for anyone different to themselves. Not to mention the state of blissful insanity they seemed to keep themselves in.

Lady Dorothy was…interesting though he couldn't help but wonder if she had all her marbles. She was clearly an adult (he would guess at least 30) but she dressed like a child of about 7 and acted like a child of about 5. And the Lion! Liir could see why the Animals thought of him as a traitor. Every word that came out of his mouth that wasn't some terrified squeak might as well have been something out of a propaganda pamphlet. To be fair though, Liir didn't know what they had done to make him act this way. For all he knew the Lion could have been threatened or hurt beforehand. He certainly seemed shaken enough (permanently, it seemed) for that to be the case.

When the carriage pulled into the square the munchkins darted into the grand palace-like building and came out with a woman behind them. Her hair was ringleted and pulled into two pigtails on either side of her head and she was carrying a little jewelled basket. Her dress was blue and white and clearly made of silk but was in a child's cut almost, with the skirt reaching only to her knees with short, puffy sleeves and socks which went half-way up her calves in a rather childish way. On her feet were a pair of dazzling ruby shoes—the only age-appropriate article in her entire wardrobe. The thing was, she clearly was an adult, around 30 if they were any judge. Liir and Annette had met the Lady Dorothy before, but only once and their tall, slender friend had never encountered her.

"Oh my!" Dorothy cried when she saw them, hopping up and down in excitement as the group started to climb down from the gilded carriage

"Ponies and dresses and gold, oh my! Oh my lady Madame Morrible you have come back to munchkinland! Oh I am _so_ happy to see you!" she simpered as she rushed over to the weather witch. The Press Secretary gave her a sickly-sweet smile that made Rhonaraye gag slightly, a look of disbelieving disgust on her face as she watched the scene from her position just in the carriage door, her head bent slightly to go through the door.

"Oh Madame, have you been able to talk to the Wizard yet? Or the Lady Glinda? Have they found a way to get me home to Kansas and Auntie Em? Oh have you? Have you?" the woman asked with bubbly hope.

"But my dear, _this_ is your home. What about the munchkins? They all love you my dear, as does all of Oz!" Dorothy's face fell and her bottom lip started to tremble.

"She's gonna blow…" Annette murmured to Liir out of the corner of her mouth.

"It's like a train wreck." Raye muttered to no one in particular as she continued staring with that somewhat revolted look "No matter how much you want to you just can't look away…"

Morrible too, seemed to have sensed the rising tantrum and quickly jumped back in

"Oh no, now none of that! We must keep the Governor happy, now mustn't we? My dear, come along I've brought you a gift." Immediately Dorothy's face lit up and started bouncing again

"Ooh! Is it some more hair ribbons? Ooh, is it jewels? Oh I love presents! Ooh, please can I see it now? Please, please, please? Its so difficult to wait! Oh I do love you Madame!"

Raye was unable to keep quiet any longer

"I'm sorry, _how_ old are you?" she asked the "Governor".

"Miss Throular!" Morrible reprimanded harshly as she whipped around.

"It's a valid question." Raye retorted dryly as she motioned with one hand towards Dorothy before finally stepping out of the carriage completely. She was still taller then their teacher by several inches. The Press Secretary decided to let this one go for the meantime and bustled off to see to Dorothy's present. As she did so Liir and Annette sidled up to their friend

"That's the person supposedly running this place?" the mage asked as she pointed to the woman skipping along with her basket.

"Haven't you heard all the stories about the Governor of Munchkinland before?" The girl with the blue streaked blonde hair asked

"Yes but I thought they were exaggerating." Raye replied "Apparently they were being kind."

Dinner was an absolute nightmare. Dorothy had few topics of conversation, none of them very interesting, the Lion shrieked at everything, Morrible was gloating and the Lullaby League were constantly trying to perform for them along with the Lollypop guild. At one point Raye asked Liir who had let the munchkins into the helium. This made the teenagers (and Jack) all snigger, to which they received a glare from their teacher.

Raye apparently found it too much and the prospect of staying in the place for another 2 days disturbing to say the least. The next party awoke to find Rhonaraye gone. The Innkeeper, when asked, told them that she had left a couple of candle-marks (hours) before dawn gave them a note in her neat and almost elegant handwriting,

_I have decided to take advantage of an existing shortcut and the fact that we are staying a few days in the general area. I am going to visit home. _

_I won't hold you back, if I do not return before you are scheduled to leave, then be my guest, I shall catch up._

_Sincerely, _

_Rhonaraye Throular.._

Morrible was quite upset at this letter, it was almost as though she were under the impression that the Teenager was going to run away and was determined to prevent such a thing.

()()())))()()()()(((()()()()(*(*(*(*(*())()()*)*)*)*)*)()()()()(8)

Rhonaraye had actually told the truth in that note. Not the explicit truth, as she had left out all but the bare essentials of information, but she was indeed headed towards the cottage in which she had grown up. Her childhood would have seemed too outrageous for any of them to believe anyway. After all, who else could say that they had refined the art of layered clothing in winter because a fire was too risky for a man made of straw? Who else (in these dark times) had received a high-quality education from a Goat? Who'd been protected by a Bear? And who had been raised by all three in a secluded corner of the woods surrounded by trees and wild animals?

When the teenager neared the trickle of water that _should_ have been the stream she froze. Smoke. She could smell smoke! And where there was smoke…

"Farro!" she breathed as she broke into a run, leaping over the stream and fallen logs, not stopping until she reached the pitiful scene of the clearing in which the cottage stood. The trees surrounding it showed marks of a fight, some of them felled completely while others had had branches ripped off messily. Many sported deep grooves in the bark. Crouching swiftly with a silent grace she ran her hand over the tips of the blades of grass that were still left, finding a pool of something sticky. Her heart pounded as she dipped her fingers into it and brought them closer to her nose to inhale the scent. She breathed a sigh of relief. Oil. Not blood. At least it didn't look as though anyone had been dragged off or hurt except for a machine…or a man of tin. Regardless, damage to property or injury to that particular agent were of little concern to her. If it was the latter, she viciously hoped that he had been reduced to scraps. Not a desire she was particularly proud of, but not one the Mage could in all honesty deny either.

The door had been ripped right off its hinges and was lying a few feet away, along with some other pieces of broken furniture.

The cottage, or at least the room connected to the door, was a mess, but again, the signs pointed to acts of vandalism, not violence against another living creature, except the plants of course.

A sound from further into the little house caught her attention, it sounded like bickering.

"…co-ome o-on, le-eh-et's see if we can ge-eh-et him u-up." An elderly voice said with a familiar, bleating stutter. It seemed to have been aggravated by recent stress and fear as it was apt to do.

"I don't know what good that'll do." Commented a gruffer, yet somehow more feminine voice, "He's lost nearly half his stuffing by the look of it, poor blighter." Now Rhonaraye was following the two voices until she reached what had been their "sitting room", in which a very elderly-looking Goat was lifting a scarecrow off the ground. A large, majestic Bear was standing up to her full height and held a sofa in the air by her front paws while looking down at the other two. Clearly the piece of furniture had been pinning the scarecrow beforehand.

"It was a damn fool thing to do—even if it was brave of him."

"What was brave of him?" Raye asked in a slightly quavering voice as she rushed in, dropping her bag to the floor with a low thump as she rushed to her guardian's side. The two Animals whipped their heads round in shock

"Raye!" the Bear gasped, throwing the couch to the side so that it landed with a crash as she rambled over to her 'cub', enveloping her in a true bear-hug. The force was just short of enough to crush bones and was welcome, even if slightly uncomfortable physically.

"What are you're doing here?" Ralimla asked as she pulled back slightly.

"Visiting you! I was in the area. I guess you didn't receive my last letter, but never mind. What happened?"

"It was B—The Ti-in Ma-a-an. He a-a-and a troop of Ga-ale Force soldiers ma-anaged to find the co-otta-age." Dr. Dillamond told his ward.

"So I see." She replied, kneeling down by the scarecrow.

"We were fortunate." Ralima put in. "A Bird saw them coming and warned us."

"Farro got us out through the passage, but he stayed behind." By now the Bear had opened the secret compartment full of straw and the three of them started stuffing the scarecrow, giving him fresh straw in a similar way to a human being given a blood transfusion.

"He thought that, since the T-t-tin Man was an old acqua-qua-quaintance and was looking for him, it wouldn't be too bad for him."

"Didn't the last time teach him anything? Lurline's sake I thought I hated T Woodsman enough for his books. Looks like being an author hasn't done anything to curb that thing's blood thirst!" Raye grumbled angrily as she continued with the task of re-stuffing the Scarecrow. Her other two guardians looked at her with surprise. They'd no idea that she had remembered anything from that last incident. She'd only been around 5.

Just then 'Farro' started to make a sound similar to a moan. What his name actually was, Raye wasn't all that sure. When she was little she must have heard it somewhere and imitated it, but her attempt had come out as 'Farro' and the name had just kind of stuck.

"Rhona-raye? What are you doing here?" he asked, jumping up now that he had been filled with straw again

"Long story Farro." She said with a smile. He returned it, but then seemed to remember something which made his face fall.

"Raye, the tree in the back…" he trailed off upon seeing the expression on her face. There was a tree out behind the garden, a small thing that was only about the same height as her. When she had been young a great oak had stood there until one stray bolt of lightening from a particularly nasty storm had split the old trunk in two. The young girl had been heartbroken. She had clambered all over that thing and even started to build a treehouse. So Farro, hating to see her upset, had taken the (then) 11 year old girl and together they had taken cuttings from the tree and planted them around the area, placing one in the same spot its parent had occupied.

But now, as Raye helped Farro out to the back door, she saw a partial source of the smoke. Someone had drenched the tree in what smelled like cooking oil and set it alight. What remained in the aftermath of the incident was a charred, whizened imitation of a plant, hunched over in shame at the violation that had been metted out upon it and its fellow trees. Rhonaraye _felt_ it call out to her, she _felt_ the pain of the forest around her and responded instinctually. She allowed the scarecrow to slip his arm off her shoulders and grope for one of the many caches of spare straw hidden among the cottage for emergencies such as this and continued to re-stuff himself as the young redhead walked to the blackened remains of the tree like on in a trance. The redhead reached out and put one hand on the trunk of the small tree. The moment her hand made contact with the now coal-like bark a bright emerald glow spread out from her palm across the rough surface until it encompassed the entire tree, all the way down to the roots. From there it rippled out through the ground into the roots of other trees until the bright green light radiated all around them from the damaged trees. Rhonaraye's eyes rolled into the back of her head though she remained standing with her hand on the bark as the Goat, Bear and Scarecrow watched. Before their eyes, split tree trunks sewed themselves seamlessly back together, burnt, shrivelled things straightened and thickened, branches reached and leaves sprouted.

The tree in front of her had received the same miraculous treatment, only 3 fold. The formerly 6-foot sapling was now nearly twice that height with a base that would take two of them to reach around the trunk to touch their fingertips together. Slowly, Raye's eyes opened and she blinked in slight shock, yet even then she knew that she wasn't quite done. There was one spell that she had already memorized from her Grimmerie. She whispered the incantation, one hand on the bark of the trunk as she did so. The now (almost) full-sized plant shuddered again and the blossoms all took on a kind of glow to their colour whilst the bark seemed to have a silver sheen to it.

_Be safe, friend_. She told it silently. To her surprise it 'answered'.

**_I intend to be. You will always be welcomed here. _**It was only then that the teenager looked around to see that the entire grove now had the silver sheen to their barks and glow to the leaves. The damage done to them also seemed to have repaired itself.

_Maybe that's why I'm a little dizzy_. She thought to herself. The Lein Tree alone still glowed faintly, but then again, they were known for their magical properties.

"I had no idea I could…" she trailed off

"We did." Ralima told her as her three guardians went over to her. She didn't bother to respond to that. Of course they had. What watchful parents wouldn't?

"Come with us." Farro said after a mew moments, "It's time for us to show you the place where you were born."

66666666666666

"Well, she isn't in any of the houses near here." Liir told Morrible as he walked in through the door. She didn't seem to have heard him, so engrossed was she in the scrying tool she held in her pudgy hands

"I know she's around somewhere! Where is she? Show her to me now you stupid piece of glass!" the older witch snarled at the mirror she was looking into. Clearly arguing with an inanimate object didn't seem at all strange to _her_.

"Madame Morrible?" he asked hesitantly. The fish-like woman spun around, her overly-made-up face now the model of civility as she addressed the teenage boy.

"Liir!" she said cheerily

"Um, Madame, why don't we wait a little before we send out the bloodhounds? She did say she was just going to see her family, and it's not like she got to leave The Academy over Lurlinemas to do so."

"Yes, of course." The Press Secretary said, "But we must make sure that she is safe."

"Oh she's fine." Liir said before he could stop himself. The forced smile disappeared from Morrible's face

"What do you mean by that?" she asked him. Now the boy had to grasp at an answer that would have him sent for 'psychiatric evaluations'

"W-well if she wasn't," he began, "We would know, right? There would probably end up being some kind of explosion this time!"

Thankfully this seemed to satisfy his Sorcery teacher and he could leave without too much more of a fuss.

"Farro, where are we going? I have to get back before they leave again." Raye reminded the Scarecrow as he led her to a familiar cave near the cottage.

"Don't worry Rhona-Raye, you'll be back in time." He said as he leaned over a set of stalagmites and pushed one of the ones in the back of the cluster to the side. The ground shuddered a moment before sinking in a fashion that created a spiraling set of stairs. Farro leaped down them quickly and easily, disappearing into the darkness, the teenage girl close on his heels. However, before she even reached the halfway point, the Scarecrow had come back up carrying something dark and pointy which he handed to her. She felt cloth between her fingers, and as soon as light touched it, she discovered that it was some sort of...was it a _hat_?

"Um…what exactly is this…hat?" She asked skeptically, holding the black pointed thing at arm's length to scrutinize it. The scarecrow let out a chuckle. It was then that the girl looked around at the swirl of colours in front of them.

"Is that a _Portal_?" she asked him in a whisper, shocked. Gates were extremely rare, _very_ powerful creations of magic that were scattered throughout the realm Oz. It was said that the Three Great Mages of the Ancient times had set a system of them up so that they could watch the world and protect it. Whether or not such stories were true, no one could prove. In the present time it all boiled down to whether or not you believed in such things.

"Come." The Scarecrow said as he stepped toward it. The girl paused a moment but then took his offered hand and stepped with him through the portal.

_**So there we have it, bit of a cliffy for you there. Please tell me what you think. **_


	12. Part 1 Chapter 9

Disclaimer: If it were mine, would I seriously be writing FANfiction?

**Ok, here is the next chapter. I'm making sure I update this before I go away, aren't I thoughtful? Anyways, here's some more Fiyero father-daughter also get a little background info on how Fiyero became Farro and how he ended up with his to my two reviewers at the bottom. Speaking of which, please review. **

**Part 1 ch 9**

From the last chapter…

_ "Is that a Portal?" she asked him in a whisper, shocked. Gates were extremely rare, very powerful creations of magic that were scattered throughout the realm Oz. It was said that the Three Great Mages of the Ancient times had set a system of them up so that they could watch the world and protect it. Whether or not such stories were true, no one could prove. In the present time it all boiled down to whether or not you believed in such things. _

_ "Come." The Scarecrow said as he stepped toward it._

Raye paused but then walked up and grabbed his hand. She screwed up her eyes and cringed as they passed through it. The sensation was strange but not unwelcome, like a refreshing spray floating across her form. The next second it had passed and she and the Straw-Man were standing on the cold, stone floor of some sort of cellar. Raye stumbled slightly but quickly regained her footing and looked around, slowly taking in her surroundings.

"Careful." Fiyercrow said as he gently guided her to the side. The redhead ducked slightly and looked up to see with widening eyes that there was an entire pile of rocky slabs and boulders overtop the archway above the magical gate. It all seemed to be held in place by a peg, which seemed to be more then a little precarious to the pragmatic teenager. Her attention was soon diverted by the rest of the stuff in the place. The Scarecrow looked around too, his expression almost nostalgic as he took the teen's hand again and lead her up the stairs to what seemed to be a lock in the middle of a stone wall. He reached into his stuffing and pulled out an old, glowing key which he fixed to the lock and then opened the "wall" (which was apparently a hidden door), motioning for her to go first.

Rhonaraye slowly walked through, ducking her head cautiously to avoid the fallen beam which lay partially across the top of the threshold. Slowly she stepped around it and into the hallway. The place was a mess. The dust was several inches thick and spider webs covered the corners. A crackling sound beneath her boot alerted the redhead to the shards of glass on the floor and she saw that every window in the hallway had been shattered. As she made her through the corridors she began to suspect that every window in the entire building was the same way. The tapestries were old and faded and in some places they were torn or slashed to ribbons. The cabinets that they passed by also showed signs of ware and damage. One of them had been reduced to splinters. The damage was interesting. In some cases it was crude. About half of the windows still had jagged shards attached to the frames whereas with others the glass had been reduced to dust.

There were also marks on the walls; the long claw marks of a large Animal cutting deep into the stone. The teenager ran her hand across them and over the edges of the torn tapestries. She picked up an examined the remains of the wooden drawer sets. There had been a struggle here…long ago, a struggle that was followed by wanton destruction.

The young mage paused at the door of one room in particular and pushed at it. The wooden entry way swung open with a creaking groan to reveal a room that had also been ransacked. The window was like the others—smashed. Spider webs were draped casually over several spots and there was a fresh rat hole in one wall. The bed inside had been thrown onto its side, the blankets and sheets strewn across the floor. As Raye took a few tentative steps closer she saw that the discarded sheets, along with a portion of the floor were crusted and stained a rusty red. Slowly, with several pauses and trembling hands the teenager took hold of the sheet and gingerly lifted it with her index finger and thumb to get a closer look, pushing her glasses further up her nose with her free hand. The stain was old, _very_ old but unmistakably blood.

"Amazing what a decade and a half can do to a place." A voice said from the doorway. The redhead gasped slightly and whipped her head around to see the scarecrow standing in the doorway. He had made a detour while she was investigating to stop by a secret compartment in the west tower.

"This is where you were born or, so I'm told anyway." He continued with a shrug as he walked in. Raye noticed with narrowed eyes that he was carrying leather satchel. He knelt down next to her and she set down the old bedding and turned slightly towards him. "I wasn't actually there I'm afraid, but Ralmila was. From her account, it was quite the event."

"Ralmila?" Raye asked, thinking of the gentle giant that had been the maternal figure in her life "But…if Ralmila was there when I was born then she must have known my parents, or at least my…" she broke off and looked the man of straw. "What happened to her?"

Farro didn't meet her unsettling gaze as he instead reached within the satchel and pulled out something long and wooden—a broom with something black tied around it. The scarecrow pulled the black thing off and smoothed it out lovingly, revealing it to be a pointy black hat. He puffed it out and blew the dust off the side and rim, smoothing out the wrinkles.

"This was your mother's, it was one of her most prized possessions." he told her as he placed the broom in her hands he still had the hat on his lap. She looked from the object in her hands to the Scarecrow with a cynical expression

"This is a broom." Raye said in a disbelieving, suspicious monotone.

"It's a very valuable and unique object." Farro continued, ignoring her. "Your mother defied gravity on that thing." Silver blue eyes flashed and she leaned in towards him slightly to emphasize her point and as though he hadn't heard her the first time

"This is a _broom_." She repeated, drawing out the word 'broom' in a disbelieving emphasis. The man of straw chuckled.

"I had a feeling you might say that. Close your eyes." When the redhead paused he raised his eyebrows (or pieces of rag which passed for eyebrows) in a silent repetition of the command. She rolled her eyes and did as he asked.

"Remember the first lesson we ever taught you; _never_ judge a book by its cover.

Suddenly the broom started to tremble in her hands and she _felt_ it; a powerful wealth of magic buried deep within the wood of the broom.

Fiyercrow watched his daughter as she closed her eyes and allowed the magic to course through her. He remembered the same look on his Elphie's face so many years ago…

Fiyero had initially joined Dorothy on her 'quest' not to exact some form of twisted vengeance on Elphaba, but to find and rejoin her. Dorothy had been cute enough in her own way, but extraordinarily naïve, vain, gullible, not to mention a complete idiot. Oh she'd had a reasonable dose of courage; enough to slap a Beast which in her mind had been dangerous (even if the Lion had been the most pitifully harmless creature Fiyero had ever met). Her dog was annoying, but also kind of endearing once you got to know him. Boq had frightened him the most. The Munchikin had never been particularly…well, stable in his opinion, but he had become a monster, hell-bent on vengeance of some kind, and since he could no longer do anything to Nessa, Elphaba had been the only outlet left. Dorothy was completely taken in by his piteous acting, but Fiyero had been able to see through it.

The Lion had been a surprise, though he (like Dorothy) was very impressionable and Boq soon had him hating Elphaba as well.

They hadn't even gotten halfway down the Yellow Brick Road when a troop of Gale Force Soldiers had appeared to arrest them! They were then taken to the Emerald City, in to see the Wizard (Or at least his giant metal machine) where Dorothy was apologized to for being so 'unnecessarily frightened' and they were all given 'commendations'. The Lion had become a sort of ambassador to the Animals, telling them at every opportunity that they should listen to the Wizard who only had "their best interests at heart" and blah, blah, blah. Needless to say, he wasn't too popular with his fellow Creatures.

Boq had been given a job with the Gale Force, though Fiyero knew he was working for Morrible, judging by the level of harassment he'd received since the Metal man had somehow managed to track him down.

Dorothy had, very ironically, stepped into Nessa's shoes metaphorically as well as physically, 'taking over' as the Governor of Munchkinland, though she was very clearly just a figurehead.

He, on the other hand, had been given a 'brain' (which came in the form of a ridiculously bogus diploma which was not even written in a coherent language) and offered a job of his own. He had turned it down in order to see the world, claiming to have been tired of sitting in that one Cornfield all day. Thankfully they had bought it, even though he'd been lying through his teeth. At that time he hadn't know that Elphaba was in the Emerald City already and had left in search of her.

For 2 long _years_ he had wandered through Oz, trying to ask discreet questions, though it seemed that he was unfortunate enough to be a step ahead of the Gossip. It wasn't until he started to Back-track that he heard about the 'Emerald Vizier' and her son. He, of course, could see right through the cover story fed to the public. So it had been with a heavy heart that he had been traveling in the woods that fateful day…

*&^FLASHBACK^&*

_The scarecrow trudged through the woods with his straw hands in his patched pockets. Two years he'd been on this non-stop trudging across everywhere from mountains to the grass plains of his homeland. Two years and he hadn't found anything, not one Rebel Stronghold or way to free Elphaba and his son. He didn't really care if one of the forest creatures attacked him, he was made of straw and hadn't felt physical pain since being rescued from the sadistic Gale Force soldiers by the enchantment which had left him a scarecrow. He only felt anything close to it when he was near a flame and even that was merely and echo of the real thing born out of fear of being torched. When Fiyercrow reached the deepest part of the forest, he heard something that sounded like-like a giggle? _

_ Bending low, he crouched behind a bush and peered through the gaps in the leaves. There was a cottage. In front of the door to the little house a large Bear was running in a large circle on all fours with a laughing toddler on its back. The two of them were having a ball. The scarecrow watched them play for several moments, mesmerised for some reason. _

_ His gaze honed in on the child. It was a little girl with curly, flaxen hair long, skinny limbs. After a time a figure appeared at the door and hobbled outside, it was a Goat. _

_ "r-Ralimla, do-o-o you-ou-ou have to play around li-ike tha-a-at? The child could get hur-ur-urt. D-don't fo-orget her breathing p-p-pro-o-blems." It stuttered. The Scarecrow gaped. It was—no. No that wasn't possible! Was that Dr. Dillamond?_

_ "Dr. Dillamond?" he asked incredulously before the Bear could reply, stepping into the Clearing. The Bear whirled around to face him and snarled, ensuring that the she was between him and the child. _

_ "Who are you?" she growled, "what are you doing here?"_

_ The scarecrow put his hands in the air to show that he was unarmed. _

_ "I'm not armed, and I'm alone." He said, looking at the little girl who was peeking out from behind the Bear's legs. Those eyes...Those startling silver eyes were so like…_

_ Elphaba. _

_ "Hello." He said to the toddler, "What's your name?"_

_ "Who are you?" The Bear repeated. Just then the Goat seemed to recognise him. _

_ "F-f-f-aaa, F-fiye-er-ero-o?" he asked, the bleating stammer still very evident. The Scarecrow, still not taking his eyes off the young child, nodded._

_ "Fiyero? Not THE Fiyero?" the Bear asked, wide-eyed. Dr. Dillamond nodded, _

_ "I t-thi-i-ink so-o-o." at this, the Bear looked behind her at the tiny Human _

_"It's alright little one, go ahead." She said, though she still kept a wary eye on them as the Straw Man approached and knelt down, his hands held out to the toddler. She cocked her head and looked at him with her mother's beautiful eyes _

_ "Is she…?" he trailed off, but they understood and nodded. _

_ "Yes Fiyero. You're a father scarecrow. Father Fiyercrow. Hmph. Sounds like a Unionist Minister's name."_

_ "Facrow." The toddler stammered, rolling the syllables in her mouth. Words were still a fascinating nuance to the 2-and-a-half year old and sometimes a challenge "Farocrow, Farro…_

_ "Hey I like that one! Farro." The Scarecrow said with a small laugh. _

END OF FLASHBACK

Thus, Fiyero had been 'Farro' ever since. The sound of his precious little girl's slight gasp snapped him out of his revere.

"Something…something's coming." She said, the obliging wind having brought the sounds of metal to her ears. Fiyercrow stood and craned his cloth neck to look out the window. There was a smoke cloud in the distance…they were coming.

"Farro, what's going on?" she asked in slight fear, clutching the handle of the broom in agitation. When he didn't answer she pressed on, "Tell me!" he looked out the window briefly. They didn't have much time.

"I want you to know how proud I am of you." He told her with a smile as he took one of her hands in his and pulled her to her feet, leading her out the door and trough the weaving halls and staircases until they were back in the hidden cellar with the portal. He locked the 'door' behind them and then grabbed the teenager's hand again and pulled her down the stairs to the magical gateway. He looped the satchel over her head and arm

"Put this on." He told her belatedly "It's bigger on the inside. Hide the broom in there and do not let anyone, _especially_ Morrible or the Wizard notice it." He told her as he also placed the black pointed hat within the bag.

"Farro you're starting to scare me…" Raye began, unconsciously gripping more tightly. The scarecrow cupped her face with both hands and kissed her forehead the way he had done when she was a child.

'No matter what happens Rhona-Raye, I will _always_ love you." He continued. Now she was really frightened. Grabbing his arms with her hands she leaned in towards him slightly in a body language meant to emphasize her words

"What is going on?" she demanded, "You're talking like we're never going to see each other again! You brought me here telling me that I was going to learn more about my mother and yet you've only told me that she 'defied gravity' on that damn broom, not to mention that you're in such a hurry all of a sudden!"

"We don't have that much time. You have to get back to your traveling companions before people get here."

"Is it something to do with the Tin Man?" The redhead interrupted

"Don't worry about us; just go back to the Village before they leave, alright?"

"No! It's not _alright!" _she exclaimed, but Farro didn't let her finish,

"Do you really think you'll do any good if you were to be captured as well?"

"Farro, wait! You don't understand-" Raye started, realizing that they still didn't know where Morrible was taking them. None of her Guardians had ever been huge fans of the Wizard or Morrible. Suddenly there was a huge crash above them and the sounds of feet stamping through the castle entrance.

"It will be okay. Go back through the portal, its adjusted to a new location just outside the village you're staying in." The Scarecrow said as he gave her a shove towards the Portal. He was stronger than she had anticipated and managed to push her through in her momentary distraction.

"Farro!" she cried as she reached for him futilely as he pulled out the peg that sent a torrent of stone bricks and debris that blocked up the Gateway from the Scarecrow's side.

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Rhonaraye landed sprawled in the dirt as the portal spit her out much more roughly then it had before. She winced as she pushed herself up slightly and coughed as dust stirred up by her landing filled her lungs. The redhead sat up and for the second time that day and peered through the darkness to get her bearings. It appeared that she was in a large, hollowed tree with cracks in the bark that let in thin rays of light. The portal was still there, shimmering an eerie purple—apparently it was a three-way portal set up. It mirrored the location on the other end still, but now all it showed was the rock slide. Raye knew from her research that it was next to impossible to actually destroy a portal itself—but you could block off the exit, which the Scarecrow had done. For a moment the young woman just sat there in shock. She'd always known something like this was a possibility but…to have it actually _happen_…

Somewhat to her own surprise Raye realized that she was still clutching the enchanted satchel in one hand with the handle of the broom sticking out of it. Pulling the bag closer to her the teenager withdrew the thing and looked at it. She again felt the thrum of magic within the wood. This had been her mother's. She quickly stuffed it back in, the satchel again displaying its alarming qualities as the entire thing fit in there. The teenager then took a deep breath to orient herself and got to her feet, ducking her head slightly so that she could compress her considerable height into the space provided by the tree and slid out the hollow opening. Once outside she dusted herself off, straightened her jacket and quickly got her bearings before heading off in the direction of the village. She was no stranger to navigating the Woods after all.

Something else that it didn't take the young woman long to figure out was that she had left _her_ bag back at the cottage and all chances of running back to get it were quickly quashed when Gale Force officers closed in on her.

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Liir, Annette and Jack all rushed out to the square at the familiar marching sounds to see their wayward friend surrounded by guards. She looked a mess. Her carrot-red hair was even more wild then usual with several strands escaping the braid and framing her dirt-streaked face. The patched and worn clothes also had some fresh dirt on them and so did the satchel draped from one shoulder to the opposite hip. She looked pissed more then anything though. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her jaw was sticking out stubbornly. She shoved her glasses further up her nose in irritation when they stopped in front of the town hall, down the steps of Which Morrible was descending.

"Miss. Throular." She said in a very serious tone. She stopped a step short so that she was the teen's height, perhaps a smidge taller. This dominance tactic did not impress the redhead. "This is a very serious matter."

"Apparently." Raye commented with an argumentative tilt of her head. "So now we not only have an increased guard patrolling the school grounds but we also have them making civil arrests."

"Oh don't be silly. These men were not arresting you! We were worried for you!" the older witch crooned.

"I told you where I was going." Rhonaraye pointed out

"You said you were going out in the woods and you didn't say where! How could we even be sure it was your handwriting." Morrible asked in that disgustingly sweet tone as she reached out a pudgy hand to the teenager's face. Raye managed to keep her lip from curling but couldn't quite bring herself to accept that touch and leaned her head back. The carp like woman raised an eyebrow but let it go

"I wanted to see my family." Raye told her deliberately and clearly, meeting her eye directly. "They weren't at home. I came back."

Over to the side Liir frowned. She was doing it, again! _Dang_ she was a good liar! He hadn't thought anyone was able to lie successfully to Morrible, but she had now done so..._twice_; the Press Secretary was _buying_ her story!

Jack wasn't though. He was more then a little ticked that she had not trusted him enough to at least tell him! At the look on her face, however, both he and Liir knew better then to ask. where she had gone and what she had done.

_**Usual question. Please review. **_

**_Beautifully Tragic Girl: _**_Here's some more portal stuff for you here, and a quick update! Next one won't be for a few days though, as i mentioned at the beginning but hopefully it won't be too long. _

**_lizziemagic: _**_Thanks SOO much for pointing that mistake out. I hadn't realized that I hadn't completely fixed that...oops. Anyway, it IS fixed now, thanks again. And you're so sweet. No worries. The story isnt going to die. _


	13. Hi, ABOUT that next chapter

Hey there, how you doing? Someonerandome here...

Alright, I know. I got a great review count, just like I'd asked and clearly I'm back from my trip so you were all (very justly) expecting an update on _Gathering Storm Edited; Of Thunder and Lightning. _

Okay, so here's the deal. Hate to reference a franchise that so many people seem to either have an unhealthy obsession with or simply love to hate, but I'm like idiotic Bella Swan's mom; I REPEL TECHNOLOGY! And I lose patience with it very quickly. Apparently my laptop lost patience with _me _and went on a hunger strike (refused to charge) and subsequently died from prolonged protests (power level dropped to exactly _zilch_.) When I realized there was not going to be any reconciliation with the battery I valiantly tried to email my on going fics to myself...

Unfortunately I only got the second half of my Star Wars fic sent in time.

Now this does NOT translate to death for _Gathering Storm Edited; Of Thunder and Lightning. _No, no, no, no, no. But basically the way I saw it I have two options. One; Redo all my editing on my desktop or Two; wait until I can get another battery and access what I've already done. Currently I'm opting for number two. I might very well still end up with option one, escpecially if it turns out that getting another battery for my laptop will take a long time.

So, just to reiterate, the story is NOT DEAD! NOT. AT. ALL!

Anyway, I thought I would take this oppertunity to reply to my wonderful wonderful reviewers!

**WickedWriteroftheWest: **No worries, we've all been there. Its great to have you back as a reviewer again...just in time for my technology to go on strike...sorry. Totally not intentional (and very VERY frustrating on my part as well as yours)

Aww, I'm blushing! Thank you so much for the compliments! There is more Fieyrcrow coming up, too! Trust me, as soon as I CAN I will be updating.

**lizziemagic:** I know, I know. It doesn't really when you think about it. But I wanted the focus onf the scene to be canon characters rather than OCs so I had Dr. Dillamond recognise him. You are absolutely correct, it would make more sense for Ralmila to go "Hey wait a sec, you look familiar..." but...oh well.

**ilikepie2013: **Thanks, I'm glad you like! I feel bad that you review it for the first time after reading it and you don't get a proper update! Hopefully the next chapter will be just as good.

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **Aw, that's so sweet! Thanks! My trip was great. It was the stuff with the laptop afterwards that was annoying. Anyways, yeah I like the dysfunctional without meaning to be dysfunctional family part as well, I enjoy writing it. There's even more aspects of that in upcoming chapters, so I think you'll like them.


	14. Part 1 Chapter 10

Disclaimer: If it were mine, would I seriously be writing FANfiction?

**ANNNND I'M BACK! Essentially, I had to go with option # 2, so updates might not be as regular as before. I will do my best though. And I just wanted to say thanks to all you guys for your support comments and for sticking with me. Anyway, I'm tired and here you go. Please show your appreciation for me staying up to update with a nice long chapter for you tonight and leave me a review. If there are some typos, I appologise. i know the point of doing an edit is to get rid of them, but in adding elements to it... whatever. Like I said. Me tired. Please leave a review for me. **

**Part 1 Chapter 10**

Raye was in the proverbial doghouse for the rest of the trip. Morrible never let the girl out of her fishy sight for the rest of their stay in Munchkinland, even so far as to (to Rhonaraye's utter horror) have the young redhead share _her_ rooms for the night. They both kept up a pretense of civility that fooled neither of them. Morrible set herself up in the bed closest to the window. She no doubt had guards at the door, not that this would stop Rhonaraye if she truly decided to put up a fight.

For the moment, the young girl had the mission assigned to her by the rebellion to worry about. She'd always wanted to officially join the rebellion, become a spy that might help bring down the Wizard's regime. She'd been convinced that was exactly what she was getting with the sleeper agent gig that she had thought the whole schooling-with-the-enemy deal.

But being a sleeper and safe-house keeper was one thing. Being inserted into the Wizard's inner circle like that…

Ironically, before she'd set foot in that school, she probably would have jumped at the chance. She still couldn't wait to wipe that arrogant smirk off of Morrible's face but Annette; well the other girl had grown on her. And Liir…she didn't think she _could_ harm Liir even if she wanted to. And she _didn't_ want to. Ever.

Morrible watched the redhead with those large, fishy eyes of hers. Was it just her, or had that carrot hair gotten a shade darker over the last couple of months? Interesting. There was a great deal of power brewing in that girl. It nearly made Morrible salivate just thinking about it. She had to find a way to control her. Some way to ensure that it was Morrible and not the silly Throular child that wielded that incredible magic, it was criminal that those who simply didn't know the uses of such abilities were granted them. It was the same with Elphaba. The wench spent more time cursing her power than putting it to use. Such waste.

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The next day they rose early in the morning, dragging Liir, Annette and their respective cronies bodily out of bed, and were packed off into the Carriage. They reached the Emerald City within another day by taking short cuts that no one had ever told poor Dorothy about (not that it would have mattered really. They doubted that she would have been able to remember or follow any directions they might have given her. There were serious doubts about Dorothy's true capabilities).

By the time they arrived at the glittering city Raye appeared to have been forgiven and Morrible's good mood had been restored. She was grinning broadly when they stepped out of their carriages. She handed each of them passes that gave them admission to all the amusements and shows as well as unlimited credit at the stores. She told them where their hotel was and also explained that since they had arrived early, they could have the next couple of days to simply amuse themselves. As soon as she started to walk away the students grinned in excitement, chattering about where they should go first.

"People, people, People!" Liir said in a jokingly commanding voice, "There is only one place to start with," He paused for dramatic effect, "THE THEEEME PAAARK!" the others cheered and started rushing in the direction of the extremely tall, looping roller-coaster that could be seen from their position. The tall redhead hung back slightly, still more than a little disturbed about all she had experienced on their little trip up to the city of Green.

"You planning on telling anyone what's on your mind?" a familiar voice asked as Jack walked beside her.

"Jack, you know I trust you." She said, leaning in a little to whisper in one of his long ears "But the city walls have ears." The Donkey couldn't help but nod at that. Both of them knew they were being meticulously observed at that very moment.

"Just promise me one thing." Jack murmured, "Whatever you do, be careful. I don't want my current best friend to get chewed up like my last one." (The Donkey had once been great friends with a Pig named Chester. He had ended up on the Wizard's banquet table, though despite his death, he had made a difference. When the Vizier had found out an Animal had been slaughtered so uselessly she had thrown a fit! From that day forward no Animal was ever to be eaten, not legally anyway.)

"I'll do you one better, I'll take you with me." She whispered just as Liir jogged back towards the two lagging behind with Annette on his heels.

"Come on you two!" she exclaimed, "Don't get lost!"

"I can't go in." the Donkey said plainly

"Why ever n—oh. Right. Sorry." Liir stammered

"It's alright. I'll stay with him." Raye said

"Oh no you don't! I'll bet my tail you've never been to one of those!" Jack said,

"Neither have you." She pointed out. The Donkey rolled his eyes at her

"Go on, I'll be fine." When she still made no move to follow Liir he let out a gruff snort. "Go take advantage of the fact that you're _allowed_ it and have some fun for a change or I'm not speaking to you for a week." He threatened.

"Are you sure?" the redhead asked hesitantly just as Annette clicked her way back in a pair of her ridiculous heels.

"Yes he is! Let's go before the lines get too long!" The blue-streaked blonde cried excitedly as she grabbed the other girl's hand and started to pull. She didn't budge her at first, but at Jack's nod Raye allowed herself to be dragged along with a sigh.

"Look, I'm really sorry I…" Liir trailed off. What could he say? He'd forgotten that Jack basically had no rights? He was beginning to understand his mother and friend's rage a little better now.

"Look pretty boy, just make sure she has some fun for a change, okay? Something has really gotten to her." Jack said. Liir nodded, smiled grimly and then turned around, jogging to catch up with his buddies. The Donkey shook his head fondly before turning around himself. However, when he did so, he froze. Morrible had seemingly appeared out of nowhere in front of him and the Beast of burden found himself surrounded.

"Seize him." The Weather Witch commanded coldly split seconds before a bag was pulled over his head…

The amusement Park was an interesting experience for Rhoaraye. She had never been on anything like the extravagant and extreme thrill rides, nor had she ever even had the odd spun candy that was handed out at a concession stand.

"So…they expect us to eat cotton?" she asked, confused

"No silly!" Annette laughed. The two girls that had tagged along sniggered and put their heads together, probably to whisper something insulting

"It's just called cotton candy." Liir explained, "It's really just spun sugar."

"Interesting." She replied, examining the fluffy treat with fascination.

"Here, just try some." Annette said jovially, thrusting a stick of the stuff into her hand with a smile. Hesitantly the teenager tore a piece off and put it into her mouth.

"Well?" Liir inquired

"Where have you been living that you've never had cotton candy or chocolate in your life?" one of Annette's obnoxious friends demanded mockingly.

"A place where there isn't enough money, to waste on having sweet-shops instead of real food." She shot back without missing a beat.

The rides themselves were exhilarating, though they didn't make Raye scream like the other girls (and a couple of the boys), though the arcade provided plenty of amusement. The group spilt up somewhat to play different games at which point the redhead found herself in a rather familiar situation; her on her own trying to puzzle things out.

She soon met up with Liir, who was making a valiant attempt to single-handedly win his girlfriend the large, pink, fluffy bear by getting a record number of tickets. He wasn't doing very well actually and (to Raye's slight but pleasant surprise) he accepted her assistance willingly. The two of them spent the rest of their time in the arcade together, proving themselves to be an excellent ticket-winning team.

The two together, however, stirred the jealousy of a certain blonde. Jealousy which was only slightly swayed by the giant teddy bear they presented her at the end of the day.

However, Annette had an idea for that, deciding to net her awkward roommate a boyfriend of her own. Therefore, the second day was spent…*shudder*…shopping.

Rhonaraye allowed the blue-streaked blonde to drag her through various shops and managed to (barely) keep her temper. The shops proved to be only the beginning of her ordeal however, for soon the blonde had dedicated herself to a full-on makeover. Annette was putting all her "beautification" talents into this. Though strangely, when she was just putting the finishing touches on it, she asked the question that had been plaguing her for longer then she'd like to admit.

"Raye," Annette began hesitantly as she curled her hair in front of a mirror, "May I ask you something?"

"Sure, why not?" The taller girl shrugged as she winced slightly when the blonde pulled her hair accidentally while styling it.

"Why are you trying to steal Liir from me?"

"_What_?" That question certainly got her attention. She yanked the strand of slightly curly hair out of her friend's grasp when she twisted around to look at her. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer it!"

"Look, there's nothing between us like there is between the two of you. That is it. End of story.." She said firmly before turning back to face forward in her chair. Her answer relieved Annette a little. Raye might be secretive, but she was also honest, and never beat around the bush in matters like this. In actuality, the tall redhead was quite possibly the only girl her age that Annette would believe that statement from, which in itself made her begin to question the company she was keeping. She banished her unpleasant thoughts when she finished up her task and looked at her handiwork with a broad smile.

"Well look at you." She said as she turned the girl's chair around to face the mirror. Raye's jaw dropped at what she saw.

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The Dance that night was fun but, strangely enough, Liir wasn't entirely into it. Normally he was the main man, the go-to guy; one thing he seemed to know instinctively was how to party. Obviously not something he got from his mother. Yet that evening he felt more like Elphaba then himself. After an hour or so he started to feel uncomfortable. Why was everything in here so damn loud? And had they _never_ heard of personal space? These weren't necessarily coherent thoughts, though if they were they didn't sound like him at all. He caught sight of Raye and Annette in the throng.

His girlfriend was stunning, but that was the norm. It was his more mysterious friend that made his (and a few others') jaw drop. Her red hair was pulled up in an elaborate but classy style. It wasn't _actually_ overdone. She also had a bit of make up on, perhaps a little too much there, but hey Annette was still getting the hang of it he supposed. Raye dress also suited her very well. It was sleeveless with a close-fitting bodice that hugged her slight curves with a floaty skirt. The centre was white with pale lilacs and baby blues, greens and pinks melding together in an abstract, almost smoky pattern around it. Ironically, while Liir felt his comfort level decrease, Raye seemed to be a little more at ease within the crowd than she normally was. She wasn't exactly a party animal yet, but there was a significant improvement to her normal tensing and/or shying away. She wasn't afraid of them or anything, at least he didn't think so. She was just uncomfortable around them. Raye liked her personal space.

Kind of like what he was feeling at the moment.

Soon Liir had migrated to the balcony to get some air. It wasn't long after that when Raye walked out there too. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was her. It was as though his awareness of his reclusive friend had been inexorably heightened after their day together.

"Hey stranger." She said teasingly as she approached him and came to lean her forearms on the ledge next to him. They stood there in comfortable silence for several minutes before Raye finally broke the silence.

"So." She said "Birthday coming up. Guess it's kind of cool that you'll be able to have it at home."

Liir blinked.

"How do you know when my birthday is?" he asked her. The other teenager rolled her eyes at him

"Please. It's practically a national holiday, Li." She reminded him. He couldn't deny that. His mother might be a very private person but his Godmother Glinda and grandfather were not. They always held grand extravaganzas for the event. Raye let him muse for a little before she continued "Hey, Jack says even the Animals tend to get a bit of a break. Everyone seems to have a good time on your Birthday."

"Almost everyone." He muttered resentfully. His red-haired companion did not miss the tone in his comment.

"Hey," she asked comforting inquisition "What do you mean?"

"No, it's nothing. Forget I said anything." He said dismissively. Her eyebrow arched impressively in an eerie similarity to his mother.

"Wow. It's like you don't know me at all." She said dryly "You know I don't give up that easily. Spill."

Liir held her icy gaze for several moments before he looked away and stared at his hands. No one could win a staring contest with her. No fair!

"It's like this," he finally said, "Every year my mother makes a big effort. She gives me my present, comes to the party, goes out of her way to make my day special just as much as Aunt Glinda does, just in her own way. She smiles. In _public_. Hell, she even bites her tongue and is invariably civil towards Morrible and my grandfather."

"And?" Rhonaraye prompted. He sighed.

"And the next morning she is the grouchiest she is all year. I never used to notice it much because I was always still on that residual birthday high and enjoying my new presents before the novelty wore off. Anyway, on that morning my mother, who is always up with or before the dawn, doesn't get out of bed until the morning is nearly over and is downing pitchers of head-ache tonic. I didn't connect anything until three years ago." Liir told her as he twiddled his thumbs uncomfortably. Raye waited patiently for him to continue. He'd never told anyone this. Why was he starting with her? Well, he knew why; he'd never felt so comfortable with anyone before. He could tell Raye anything and know not only that it was a safe secret, but somehow that she would understand. Whatever it was between them seemed to run deep. He didn't know how this had happened or where it had come from…nevertheless the bond somehow existed.

"Well," he continued "two years ago after my party, I sneaked up to her tower room. It was still off-limits there was that allure of forbiddenness of it. Anyway, I got up there, and…I heard these noises. Two people talking. I got there and the door wasn't locked. So I opened it just a crack and looked in.

"My mother was…drunk. Dead _drunk_. I'd never seen her like that before and I haven't since. My aunt Glinda was trying to get the bottle away from her before she gave herself alcohol poisoning. She saw me. Glinda, that is. Not my mother. My mom was too intoxicated. My Godmother flew to the door, stared at me in shock for a few minutes and then closed it in my face. There was the sound of a bottle smashing and then Aunt Glinda slipped out the door, closed and locked it behind her and ushered me off to bed."

Liir looked up to see Rhonaraye's unwavering gaze on him. There was pity there, yes, but not the humiliating amount he had expected. Instead there was comfort and…understanding. Almost as though…she'd heard it before, or known it before. Strange. The only other person he had ever confided this in hadn't even been a real person. His last childhood indulgence had been in confiding in his imaginary friend Nari one last time the day after the event he'd described to Rhonaraye. He didn't even remember what they'd "said" but afterwards they'd stopped conversing.

Well, that was to be expected. Children grew up. They stopped acting that way. Yet, he'd missed that company his imagination had conjured up for him. He'd tried once more after that to invent a reconciliation between them in his head one time when he'd felt particularly at a loss about something frivolous a few weeks later, but it just hadn't been the same for some reason. Pulling his mind back to the present he let out a bitter scoff

"You know, she doesn't touch liqueur ever. Except on that one night apparently. And she doesn't even know that I know. And what's even worse, is that I can be mad at her, but that annoying little voice in the back of my mind—I think it's my conscience— keeps reminding me that she never intended me to know. She bent over backwards to make my special day extra special. But still, it-it-"

"Hurts?" Raye supplied understandingly, her voice barely above a whisper. He nodded. For a moment, neither said nor did anything. Then in one mutual movement they embraced each other.

Unfortunately, _this_ was the scene that Annette saw before the redhead pulled away, patted Liir's shoulder and then slipped back into the room to leave. It was enough for her for one night. Ironically enough, after she left, Liir's odd discomfort slipped away and he went back into full party mode.

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Liir had fully intended to sleep the majority of the following day away after being out until the following morning. However, something didn't let him. A nagging, indistinct sense of unease woke him from his slumber only a few hours after he had gone to bed. It nagged at him until he slipped out from under the covers and walked over to the window of his room. The view of the emerald city in the morning really was something. He'd just missed the sunrise, (which was truly spectacular according to Elphaba) but it was still kind of cool.

Nevertheless, something caught his eye on the ground rather then the horizon; a cautiously moving figure in a somewhat shabby coat with a long red braid swishing down her back crossing the street to be exact. He'd know that outline anywhere. He quickly threw on a shirt, coat and some boots and went after her, padding past the chaperone's rooms with a practiced ease and sneaking out the same door she had.

Liir wandered through the labyrinth-like streets of the "lower city" with his fingers pinching his nose shut against the smell. The workers here were almost all the lowest of the garbage and waste cleaners and they were all Animals. How could they stand the stench? _Especially_ those from species with ole factory senses keener than humans? Were they all this malnourished and miserable? Such were the questions that pushed their unwelcome way into a mind that had been so contentedly and intentionally ignorant before.

It was by chance more than anything that he finally found Rhonaraye. The girl was in one of the alleyways talking to a team of Animal waste laborers; a beautiful black Mare pulling a heavy looking wagon and a Grite.

"You mean, he never came to call on you? You haven't seen him?" Raye asked the Mare in concern. The Horse looked back at her with double the worry as she shook her beautifully shaped head in despair.

"No! I haven't seen Jack since he was taken away to work at that school! Oh Sweet Oz! Now something has happened to him! I must find him! He doesn't even know—"

"Hush Mirisee!" The Grite snapped, seizing her head and forcing her to look at him "Jack is fine. Don't let this girl stress you. She's probably been sent by the foreman as a joke. And you!" he rounded on Rhonaraye "Stop pretending you care two-legger! Don't you know how sick it is to toy with us? I don't know why you picked one poor Mare to get your amusement from but you leave her alone!"

"No!" Raye protested, horrified at what they thought she was doing "No, wait, please! I'm not—"

"She already shouldn't be working in her condition and you upsetting her further will just make her lose it! Then she won't be able to work for several days, tell your boss that!"

"Please, Jack is my friend! I want to know where he is!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone. The Grite scoffed at this

"Friend? Ha! We aren't even living to you…you humans! We're nothing but your slaves and amusement. Haven't we been beaten down enough?"

"But—"

"Just go away, we have work to do." With that the Grite picked up the extra strap attached to the wagon and put his weight into it, helping his friend pull the load of garbage. Raye stood there, hurt at the implication and angry that their suspicions would likely have been justified in most other cases. Liir felt angry at them for wounding her so, she cared more about that stupid Ass than anyone!

"I can have them disciplined." He offered. She whipped around at the sound of his voice. The look on her face immediately made him regret his words

"And what would that do other than harm them further and prove their suspicions?" she demanded in disgust. She made to stalk past him but he seized her arm.

"Wait." He said. She looked down at his hand and then at his face, the spark that sizzled from her eye (literally) giving him more then fair warning about the state of her temper. He held her gaze though

"I'm sorry." He said, meaning it sincerely. As if sensing that she relaxed and nodded. He released her arm. "What's going on anyway?" She hesitated, deciding whether or not to trust him. Finally after a few moments of fidgeting and looking around for anyone who might be watching them she lowered her voice

"I can't find Jack." she whispered. He was taken aback slightly. There was naked _fear_ in her voice, an emotion so foreign to his fiery friend. Or was it simply that this was the first time she had ever allowed anyone to see it? He shook off the uncomfortable thought, (though not as easily nor as completely as he used to be able to) and turned his attention instead to cheering her up.

"Come on, he'll be fine. He probably just wanted some time to himself. Why are you so worried?" he asked her. Apparently, that was not the question to ask to calm her down. She silently seethed at him for a moment, making him fidget uncomfortably and back down a little before she strode past him and seized his arm, dragging him with her.

"Come with me." She stated, not that he had much of a choice in the matter it seemed. Damn she was strong! And she was fast. Her long strides ate up the ground beneath her in a rather familiar way, though he couldn't quite place it…almost like a horse charging down the streets. She pulled him along through the streets until they reached an art hall. Ironically enough, it was one of the best after-hours clubs in the time when the gallery itself was closed. They'd been here the night before, but she didn't lead him to the closed-off club rooms. Instead she dragged him to a featured "artwork".

"_That_ is why I'm worried." She told him angrily. He frowned a little and then slowly looked to the painting.

In front of the pair was a depiction of two bears alongside a human. The human was a man in the gale-force uniform, standing upon a raised hill with one foot raised by its perch on a cluster of rock. He was a handsome statue with a strong chin, toned muscles as well as cute brown eyes. He was even saluting with one hand whilst holding his rifle up triumphantly with the other. This in itself was a revolting example of propaganda, no one even seemed to question how incredibly **up**dated the uniform was, though it was the two Bears that really bothered Raye and he was starting to finally see why. One was ridiculously subservient, its head almost to the floor and was looking up at the human in awe and admiration, a look of idiocy and bliss upon its features, despite the fact that it was on a leash with an iron, spiked collar around it's neck. The other Bear was shown as a rabid monster with foam at the mouth and a crazed look on the face. It too was in chains, but harsher ones. The aggressive Bear was also making this horrible face at a crippled _child_.

He winced a little, but also found that worse was to come when he read the caption.

_This brilliant work of art by an anonymous friend to the Wizard depicts the two roles that Animals fulfill with their second-class intelligence and morals…_

A nearby vase shattered and the plant inside started to grow rapidly into a strangling vine, reaching for something to choke. Liir looked over at Raye. Her fists and jaw were clenched and shaking. He reached over and took one of her fists in his hand. She jumped an whipped her head around to look at him with wide, surprised silver eyes.

"I never saw that before." He admitted quietly. She took a deep, calming breath and the plant relaxed a little in response just as the leg of its table started to creak and splinter.

"Honestly, even as Morrible's Propaganda goes, this is pathetic yet here it is, seen by babbling, mindless hordes every day! Lurline, the complete desensitization of our entire society! No one cares about anyone but themselves and find primitive pleasure in the suffering of others! I admit, I'm not exactly a role model for 'civilized' behavior, but at least I don't pretend to be. This whole business of class-privileges and not even needing a double-digit IQ to be in charge of something important just because you're rich is revolting." She railed. He noticed her careful use of Morrible's name instead of his grandfather's, most likely in an attempt not to alienate him. He was kind of touched if that was the case. She also didn't immediately try to pull away from him as she did from everyone else. There was silence between them for several moments.

"I think you would really like my mother." He said finally, "And she'd take a shine to you too. I don't know how long she's been trying to rant to me about this for years…and I think I agree with her—and _your_ anger." The words surprised even Liir. This was heavy. He'd never realized the extent of what was going on right under his nose!

"But for now, just think about something else. I mean, come on, you're going to meet my Grandfather tomorrow! Some people would do anything for that kind of opportunity, right? Concentrate on the fact that you, a 15 year-old girl has been handpicked by the ruler of Oz himself! Think about that, or at least something a little less…angry." He suggested as he knelt down and picked up a shard of the pot the plant had been in "We only have so much pottery after all…bad joke?" he asked at the look on her face. She shook her head and sighed.

"No, spot on. You're right. I should just…calm down." Raye admitted.

"That's the stuff. Now let's see if we can find another museum like that paleontology one. I'm pretty sure I can find a couple that were sponsored by the one and only Emerald Vizier which shouldn't offend you too much." Liir suggested cheerfully. That (to his satisfaction and pleasure) prompted a smile from her.

They spent an absolutely delightful day together as a matter of fact; it was so easy and natural. It was like they knew what each other was thinking. The end of the day was almost sad.

Nevertheless, hanging in the shadows of their fun was the constant uneasiness, the constant worry about their four-legged friend and above all, apprehension for the following day. It might just be the biggest day of Raye's life, which Liir felt might somehow impact him. Was it his oracle senses finally starting to claw their way out into the open?

Just what lay in store for them?

**Review please.**


	15. Part 1 Chapter 11

**Part 1 Chapter **

**Alright, so that wasn't too bad was it? Basically somethign just got cancelled and I suddenly found myself with a little bit of time to work on this, so here we go. Freshly edited chapter for you guys. I also just felt that I had to update now in my Wicked-excitement. Going to see it TOMORROW!*Squeals and hops around excitedly* **

** Anyway, penultimate chapter of part one here. This used to be the last chapter of part 1, but I split it up because I've moved some stuff around and added a little bit in the next one. So that is why it might seem a little short at the moment. So, yeah. Enjoy. Read and REVIEW please. **

**Part 1 Chapter 11**

Finally, it was the morning that many had been anticipating.

The day that Annette and Rhonaraye would finally meet the Wizard of Oz

The Day that the Wizard and Morrible would admit three (or rather two and a wannabe) new magical protégés into their organization

And perhaps, _possibly_ the day that Liir would pluck up the courage to tell his mother about the book he had found. Possibly.

Rhonaraye awoke that morning to a rather unexpected surprise. Firstly, Annette was up before her. Secondly, when the other girl walked out of the washroom in her bathrobe, her damp hair was no longer blonde. Instead it was now a medium brown in colour. The redhead was touched to see that while she had removed all traces of blonde, Annette had re-applied the blue streak.

"Well I'll be." Raye said quietly "You actually washed the hair-dye out. I thought it would take years."

"It nearly did, but since we've been back home, I saw too many of Aunt Glinda's advertisements, and then caught myself in shop windows. They're trying to pawn her off in a marriage to Sir Chuffery you know."

"Really? But he's so…"

"Revolting?"

"Old. And she isn't exactly a Spring Chicken either."

"She's only 39." Annette replied evenly as she rubbed a towel across her hair to dry it some more.

"Well, I'm still impressed." Raye said, pulling back the blankets from her bed to start getting ready. She stretched the kinks out of her muscles as she stood, but when she headed to the bathroom she found the shorter girl barring the door.

"Oh no you don't!" she said with a mischievous little smile on her face, "I am going to make you look presentable!"

"Oh no." Raye groaned

"Oh _yes_!"

In the end, Raye permitted only the smallest amount of makeup, but refused to let her roommate touch her hair this time. The red mane was pulled back into a simple French braid and she dressed in a professional-looking royal blue dress that she had purchased 2 days before, around the same time she had bought a glittery hair trinket for her roommate. To her pleasant surprise, Annette was wearing the emerald-studded gold hair clip. She was even more surprised and _very_ touched when the blonde came up behind her and slipped a pendant around her neck.

"You are going to meet the most important man in all of Oz in a few short hours. You are _not_ going to embarrass me. There. The accessory completes the outfit." She said. However, in spite of her Glinda-like, imperious tone she held the jewelry that graced her neck between her thumb and forefinger. It was the twin of the one she had just put on her friend. Her friend. It was a friendship necklace.

Raye looked down at it and then back at her friend. She touched it and smiled, accepting the offering not only of the trinket but the official friendship it entailed. Annette seemed happy about this and went about with her primping and fussing. Once she wasn't looking, Raye's smiled faltered and her nerves returned in full force. This could just be the biggest day of her entire life. It would likely decide the path it would take and send a message about who and what she was.

If only she knew what that message was.

88888

The girls beat the gentlemen to the lobby—something they intended to hold over their heads gleefully for the rest of time, or at least the duration of their acquaintance. The rest of the posse that had accompanied them was quickly dismissed by Morrible, who then led the trio to the palace. On the way Rhonaraye attempted once again to ask after Jack, to the same curtly dismissive answers.

()()())))(((((((())))))))))))))(((((()()()())(()()()()()()()()))((((()

The Wizard's chamber was certainly intimidating to newcomers, though for some reason, Raye found herself feeling far more calm then she anticipated, partially because Liir seemed so calm. She reminded herself that he had grown up here and was still alive. Considering how young children apparently were, the Wizard clearly either wasn't as short-tempered or wasn't as powerful as he was made out to be, or both. This deduction, of course, led her sharp mind down the familiar and comfortable path of immediate cynicism. Not only that, but neither Morrible nor Liir were even nervous. They were both relaxed, it was as though his ease bled into her. No, not ease. That was too light a description. Both Liir and Morrible were amused. _They_ had come expecting a show and were getting one. Their common denominator? Well, they _had _both lived here for many years and personally knew the Wizard. No, no. This was not actually a dangerous situation. So, what was it exactly?

Remaining calm, she kept her mouth shut and her face a carefully controlled mask even as she winced and threw an arm up to shield her face when the bright, flashing multicolored lights painfully cut into their eyes just as they had started to adjust to the darkness of the chamber. At the same instant an almost impossibly loud, intimidating voice echoed off the sound-proof inner walls of the chamber. Suddenly a giant face blasted into view and began to speak in an ominous voice

"WHO DARES DISTURB THE GREAT AND POWEFUL OZ!" It boomed, startling girls, making the taller one jump slightly whereas the other screamed. After a minute or two of silence (well except for Annette's slight whimpering) the 'Wizard' repeated his question.

"W-w-we a-are th-the students of Madame M-morible! S-she's with us!" Annette stammered, trying to find her teacher through the dim light as she clung to Liir. Raye, in the meantime had made her way quietly over to one side of the giant head and gingerly touched it, feeling metal beneath her fingers in the brief second that she touched it before moving behind it to feel for and pull a wire. The effect was instantaneous. The head drooped, the iron chin slumping down to the ground. The lights then came back on, though they were still concentrated only in the general vicinity around the metal contraption. Coming back around Rhonaraye gave her companions a withering look, one fist on her hip while the other held the cord and plug in its grasp. Annette turned crimson in embarrassment; Morrible had a look of shock on her face, not about the cord, but the fact that the teenager had possessed the nerve to do such a thing! Liir however, was fighting hard not to laugh—a losing battle.

"Didn't I tell you she'd figure it out?" a new voice said from inside the metal head as a very elderly looking man opened a hatch located at the back of said head. Raising an eyebrow the 'carrot-top' helped him down without thinking

"Why thank you!" he said cheerfully. She gave a curt nod in response.

"So, these are the Adepts of the future." He said, apparently seizing them up.

"Now, Liir, why don't we start with you? Come over here boy and look at your mother's grimmerie." The old man continued, leading his grandson over to a small pedestal.

"Well actually I—" the boy began, about to tell his grandfather about the Book he had discovered, but felt a sudden feeling of dread that wasn't entirely his catch in his throat.

_NO! Not now. Wait. Wait for all the facts! _A voice echoed in his mind. It seemed doubly familiar now, he knew it was his red-headed friend, but couldn't place the secondary familiarity to it just at that moment.

"—I don't know if I'm ready for such a complicated spell." He finished, receiving the fond rebuke he had expected and read the book with the same ease as his mother. He had barely finished the incantation when the alarm clock in front of him leapt to life, fusing with a few other appliances into some kind of …_thing_.

"_What_ is _that_?" Annette asked

"Er…" Liir said, unsure himself.

"Very good Liir! Very good! You've created a Tick-Tock! Why don't you give it a name?" Morrible simpered. Raye rolled her eyes at the Press Secretary's sugary tone.

"Uh…what are you supposed to name it? How about um, well groe?…um…metic? What do call something like that? I don't know…" he said, scrambling for a name. "How about Grommetic?" Annette suggested, combining the two sounds that Liir had put forth as a possible designation together. Everyone murmured in mild, dismissive agreement.

The strange device seemed to imprint on the first thing it saw, like a baby bird, and that 'thing' was (unfortunately) Morrible. It wheeled itself almost immediately to her side like a duckling following its mother.

However, little attention was paid to that as The Wizard beckoned to the young lady who had assisted him a few minutes earlier.

"Now dear, it's your turn. If you can't read it, don't worry. Liir has been around texts like these all his life-" the old man began, however Raye had been studying the language in the book she had for months now and had discovered a great deal. She had no trouble speaking the incantation in front of her. As she read, she realized that she had not asked what the spell would do exactly—a huge and rather uncharacteristic mistake. However, to her relief, when she was finished, the result was merely an alteration in the interior design of the room, or so she thought initially. When Annette went to one of the walls, she returned with a hunk of crystal in her hand that had turned from green-painted stone to a stick of pure emerald.

Later on, servants in the palace and residents in the Emerald City would discover that the majority of the green-painted stone in the region surrounding the palace had turned from painted quartz and rusted copper to pure emerald, making true the name. In addition, several more little 'tick-tocks'— many of them infused with the precious green stone – were also discovered wherever there had previously been mere piles of junk.

In the meantime however, Morrible and The Wizard were _very_ impressed, their scheming little brains already thinking ahead on how to bind these two to them. Ignoring Annette completely, the pair then sent the three students to return to the hotel rooms whilst they arranged for permanent quarters for the Rhonaraye to reside in permanently. Liir could simply return to his own rooms and they supposed they should give Glinda's cousin a more central suite of her own as well. Just as she was heading out the door, Raye realized that the necklace Annette had given her had fallen from her neck. The clasp was probably faulty.

"Damn." she hissed, hand going to her breastplate where it had rested

"What is it?" Annette asked her

"I dropped something. Go ahead. I'll catch up in a minute." She told them, slipping back into the chamber to look for what she had misplaced. As the great door closed with a boom Morrible and the Wizard began talking. Raye stayed silent, quietly feeling around for the pendent. She recovered it fairly quickly, but also found what the two were talking about to be quite…attention-grabbing.

"I think that went quite well." The grating female voice of her sorcery teacher said smugly. "Much better than the last time."

"Yes it did. I don't know why you were concerned about that Throular girl…" The Wizard replied. At that point Raye (who was still crawling on the ground) felt her hand come into contact with something that felt like rusted iron. Frowning she gripped it and stood, still listening attentively.

"…She seemed quite taken with everything."

"Wizard, you know I am your most loyal servant, but sometimes you really _do_ see only what you wish to." The woman informed him in that revoltingly false sweet tone. It was then Rhonaraye's eyes adjusted enough to the level of light where she was again that she finally saw what she held in her hand. Her eyes widened and breath lodged in her throat in slack-jawed horror.

"She has been asking a few too many questions about that disgusting Donkey that accompanied us." Morrible said, snapping the girl out of her shocked petrifaction.

"You mean that Ass we sent down to the mines before he goes to the abattoir?" the old man asked in a dismissive tone.

Not able to stand the touch of the thing any longer, the teenager dropped the rusted iron 'discipline' collar; a cruelly spiked device that was lined on the inside with barbed wire that tightened when the collar was jerked. The metal clanked to the floor far too loudly for her liking, since it caused the two adults to whip around and see her.

"Miss Throular!" The Wizard exclaimed nervously, trying to sound welcoming. "I don't know what you thought you heard…" he began upon seeing her expression while Morrible began shrieking for security

This proved to be a grave mistake on her part.

"I heard _enough_!" Raye cried spinning around and charging through the door as it opened and charged through the wide gap between the guards. More were on their way and seized her arms when she tried to push past them. A worse mistake.

"Let. Me. GO!" The Mage shrieked, her rage coming to a boil. The ground began to shake. The water in a nearby fountain exploded into a miniature tsunami to flood the floor up to the ankles of the guards surrounding her before it froze in a flash, trapping them. The two trying to physically restrain her would have wished for this instead of the alternative, for flames erupted from her skin to burn their hands. Both men reeled away from their captive with shrieks of agony and Rhonaraye stumbled back. She looked at the guards, then at her hands and back again in unconcealed horror at what she had done before whipping around and fleeing the scene.

She pushed past Liir and Annette, ignoring their calls after her and headed straight for a winding set of stairs, not caring where they led at this point. Somewhere along the way she managed to gasp out a summoning spell and conjure up her satchel into her hands.

In the back of her mind she wondered why the Guards were hesitant to pursue her up this particular set of stone steps, but didn't quite manage to care considering it gave her a bigger lead. Bolting through the first door she saw, she jammed a metal crowbar into the space that a wooden beam normally occupied, knowing the crowbar was probably stronger.

What had she done? In one moment of fool-hardy, self-righteous passion she had not only acted in rash defiance the most powerful people in Oz, she had disobeyed a direct order, nay thrown away an entire mission set out for her by the Underground! In a grand total of five minutes Raye had managed to turn her entire life prospects (not to mention her life itself) inside out and sent them hurtling down the drain! And she had ruined what had undoubtedly been a meticulously planned scheme by the organization she owed her very existence to! This great debt had been stressed to her many times by several Resistance members who had passed through her home when she was growing up. Would they punish her guardians for this? Would they be blamed for her apparent betrayal?

Suddenly the teenager realized that she was not, in fact, alone in the room. Upon this realization she froze, then slowly, ever so slowly turned around.

Half-leaning-half-perched on a set of shelves was a woman silhouetted in the glow of the setting sun. She was thin and tall, much like Rhonaraye, with an equally penetrating stare that was scrutinizing the girl silently. Raye was now breathing heavily from her frenzied sprint, and for several moments they just stared at each other, two pairs of pale silver eyes meeting in the shadowed glow the sunset cast through the window. While most of her was cast in shadow due to the sun's position directly behind her, the woman's slight frame appeared to have a green tint. It was she who broke the silence.

"Gotten yourself into a bit of trouble, have you?" she asked dryly.

**He he he. I like my cliffys, but I guess you know what's going to happpen...though I have made some changes...Will stop talking now.**

** No I won't I lied. I must answer my lovely reviewers. Thanks for sticking with me during that long, unexpected hiatus. **

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **Yup. I'm back. I can no longer guarantee the consistancy of my posts, but I have definitely returned. Well, something happened. Whether or not it is bad, we'll have to read and see. Even then, you can decide what you think-though I hope you'll review and tell me. I'm obsessed with feedback.

**WickedWriterOftheWest: **Have I ever told you how much I love your screenname? Its SO COOL! Anyway, ADD moment passed, yes I am building up tension, and it _still _isn't completely relieved in this chapter! At least it better not be...I hope this was nice and dramatic... ...

That is so sweet of you! Thanks! I have such caring readers, it is AWESOME. I'm glad you missed the story, you know, cause that means you like it, right?

**Lovely to hear from you, as always. Please keep reading and reviewing. **


	16. Part 1 Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Not Mine. **

I am currently DEFYING GRAVITY after FINALLY seeing Wicked last Weekend! Oh. My. GOD! It was absolutely EPIC! AWESOME! AMAZING! Loveitloveitloveit! *Cheers*

**_Alright! Last chapter of Part 1! Here we have the Elphaba/Rhonaraye encounter which several of my wonderful reviewers have told me they have been eagerly awaiting. _**

**_Now this is the last chapter of Part 1. What does this mean? No, the story does not finish here. Basically, don't expect a direct continuation of this chapter's events in the next chapter, as the next one skips ahead a few years. So when the next chapter comes around, keep that in mind. _**

**_Also, no one has asked me this yet or anything, but after re-reading what I've been writing, I just thought that I'd make sure everyone knew what I meant when I was talking about Raye's plans to become a 'Sleeper'. Basically a sleeper agent (from what I get from media anyway) is a spy who completely camouflages themselves in their target area/country/culture so that they can and do pass for someone born into it. They then basically live the (usually) mundane life of their cover 24/7 until they are activated by their agency and then go about their seek-and-destroy type spy missions or whatever else spies do. I don't pretend to be an expert, I just thought that was a cool concept to plug int here. When re-reading I remembered that I hadn't know what a 'sleeper' was myself a few weeks before I added that bit in there so I just thought I'd make sure what it was was clear, for I don't think it was before. At least not in my critical look at the story anyway._**

**_Speaking of which, enough gabbing. Onto the story. _**

**_Read and Review please._**

**_Part 1 Chapter 12_**

…_While most of her was cast in shadow due to the sun's position directly behind her, the woman's thin frame had a definite green tint. It was she who broke the silence. _

_"Gotten yourself into a bit of trouble, have you?" she asked dryly. _

"You could say that." The teenager retorted coldly, glancing back at the door as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"And she has gumption, if not wisdom." the woman said in mild approval as she stood and approached the redhead. When she stepped out of the glare created by the sunset peeking in from the solitary window the teenager could see more then mere shadow and outline. The woman was wearing a black dress and her black hair was also (uncharacteristically) cascading freely over her shoulders and back, but her skin definitely was as green as the gem the City was named for.

"What's your name, girl?"

"You're the Vizier." Raye stated in apprehension instead of answering the question, just barely stopping herself from swearing at the epiphany. She opted instead for muttering "I'm doomed."

"What makes you say that?" the Green woman inquired "And you didn't tell me your name."

"Rhonaraye Throular." Raye replied. After a moment she plucked up her courage and asked the fearful question "Are you going to turn me in?"

The green woman regarded her for a moment and then sighed.

"If I'm going to do you any favors I should." The Vizier told her wearily as she turned to walk back toward the window.  
"Do you say that because of the scorn you received?" Rhonaraye inquired boldly. Elphaba whipped around at this. At the older woman's surprised look the teenager crossed her arms, tilted her head in an argumentative way and stated "Most people might believe that cover story, but I don't. Not after this. Too coincidental." Again there was a pause. There was a familiarity about this child, particularly around the eyes. The witch just couldn't _quite_ place it.

"Well, I'm surprised if not impressed. Think this through though, don't copy my mistakes. You follow this path you will miss out on any chance you have at a normal, carefree life."

"You can't miss something you never had." Raye shot back.

"You'd be surprised." The green woman informed her before warning, "They might go after your family. My actions got my sister killed, among others."

"My family has already been in hiding my entire life. This won't make much difference to them." Rhoaraye told her "Are you still going to turn me in? They'll probably kill me now."

"No they won't. You'd be too useful a tool." Elphaba informed her emotionlessly

"Blunt way of putting it." Raye remarked

"I see no reason to sugar-coat."

"Neither do I. I respect you honesty."

"Stop trying to flatter me, it won't help you." Elphaba informed her wryly.

"I wasn't aiming for a compliment. Just a statement." Raye retorted, her eyebrow quirking challengingly. The green woman decided to let that one drop. Normally she liked having the last word, but it seemed she was not alone in her (sometimes pernicious) stubbornness on that count. Finally the girl asked the question that had clearly been straining at her lips

"Why did you surrender? You stood up for what was right! You were so strong, an actual opposition to them, and then you became their servant! How? More importantly, why?" the teenager demanded, "Why?"

"Because I had no strength left and no energy!" The Vizier snapped as she whipped around, her temper roused at being criticized by this child for the failings that she all too aware of. "You think it's glamorous to be a rebel? Well dearie, you are in for a _big_ surprise. I fought long and hard for what I thought was right and lost everything! My sister, my father, my friends, my lover, I even lost a child! Everything that I had, everything, _except_ for my son and I came _this close_" she held her index and thumb about half an inch apart "to loosing him too. They captured me when I was weak and alone and I just never managed to fight my way out. Righteous anger only goes so far when you're trapped in a holding cell with only the terror that you will never again see the one important thing left in your life for company. I gave up on escape schemes once the guards to my cell got to know that I preferred my gruel stirred instead of shaken!" she finished harshly before continuing at a quieter tone "Maybe I _am_ weak. Maybe after all this time I'm still a terrible mother. But you see I stopped feeling most things a long time ago. Anger takes energy and willpower, and I just don't have those any more."

Raye was speechless, and more than a little frightened. The Wicked Witch of the West had been the Wizard's most dangerous adversary, political or otherwise. If she had been defeated, if so mighty a woman had ended up like this, then how could a simple girl like Rhonaraye hope to accomplish anything? Was there even any point in trying? There might be a chance to salvage the situation and smooth things over with the Wizard's group and her own, perhaps she might finally prove to the Rebellion that keeping and raising her for whatever reasons of compassion that had possessed them had not been a waste of resources! She could show those who had criticized her guardians that they had indeed done their job impeccably. On one hand she could just possibly have everything she had ever wanted. On the other hand…

On the other hand was Jack.

No, that decided her. She could _not_ leave her best friend to rot like that. She couldn't and quite frankly she refused to even entertain the idea.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The Vizier asked her, looking the teenager over critically. What was it about those eyes that was so annoyingly familiar?

"No." the girl replied, "I'm not sure. But I _have_ to. If I don't find Jack they'll kill him." she said. It was difficult to tell what the Vizier thought by her carefully schooled expression.

However, at the sound of footsteps ascending the stone staircase once again the green woman grabbed the girl by the shoulders and pulled her to an old wardrobe made of onyx so pristinely polished that the outside effect was that of a black mirror. The Vizier opened the door and thrust the girl inside, putting a long green finger to her lips to indicate silence before closing the portable closet up so that by the time the guards burst in they saw nothing but the Emerald Vizier scrutinizing an old potion bottle.

"Got you now you little…" the Captain trailed off when he saw Elphaba.

"Excuse me?" She demanded dangerously.

"Sorry Madame." The guard said, his tone fearful. Sheepish even. "We were looking for a dangerous fugitive. Another Wicked person in the making."

"Do _I_ look like a fugitive to you?" the sorceress snapped. They were unaware of the irony in that question, but she enjoyed it in spite of herself and them.

"N-no Vizier. We are terribly sorry."

"You might try the South Stairs; if she is trying to escape she will no doubt be looking for someone to harbor her among the Wizard's enemies."

"H-how did you know it was a girl?" One of the soldiers inquired

"Didn't you hear the announcement? You really must get your ears checked. Now I have better things to do then coddle you spoiled rich boys. Get _out_ of my storeroom!" she barked. They practically fell over each other in their hurry to do as she commanded. When they were gone Rhonaraye stepped out from her hiding place.

"That was impressive." She whispered appreciatively.

"I still have my moments." Elphaba told her with a slight smirk

"So…you're letting me go?" Raye asked hesitantly, not quite daring to believe this incredible stroke of luck! The green-skinned woman nodded.

"Against my better judgment, yes. Come, I know a spell that will get you airborne; it's your only chance. The mines are just about half a mile outside the city walls." The older witch said striding over to said window and throwing it open. The sun had set, leaving the city in the faint glow of twilight with only the brightest stars peeking through as the darkness began to take hold.

"Actually, I have something that is supposed to help me fly, but I'll take the spell too, if it's all the same to you. I really don't know if this thing will actually work…" Rhonaraye said as she rummaged around in the bag to retrieve the broom. This action drew Elphaba's attention to the satchel, then immediately to the broom the redhead produced from it. In an impossibly quick motion she had seized the teenager's wrist an a vice-like emerald grip, startling the girl.

"Where did you get that?" she hissed in Rhonaraye's face_._

"Why?" the girl asked shakily, her silver eyes a little wide in sudden fear.

"Answer my question!" Elphaba persisted with a strange urgency. Raye tried to jerk her wrist out of the green woman's grasp to discover that she was not the only one who was stronger than she looked.

"It's an heirloom if you absolutely must know." The redhead replied tersely, her imprisoned wrist between their faces along with the broom that was clutched in that hand. Elphaba's mouth opened slightly as though she were going to say something as she looked at the broom and then at the girl's face again, searchingly this time.

"No…no." she breathed. She was shaking her head slowly in dismayed disbelief as she stared unblinkingly at the teenager's face. Flashbacks of Liir's birth filled her mind. The second baby, the tiny wail that she had convinced herself was a dream. Chistery's mysterious disappearance…oh this could _not_ be happening.

"No, _no_…it's not possible—no."

"What?" Raye whispered in bewilderment. Elphaba released her suddenly and backed away a step.

"Did your mother die?" the green woman inquired

"I don't know. I think so. My guardians would never tell me anything, but I never met her. This was hers too, or so I'm told." Raye replied warily as she took out the strange pointed hat from the sac. There was a sharp intake of breath from the Green woman then. Raye saw something unexpected and difficult to identify in her expression. Was it…sadness? Hope? Denial? She couldn't tell. The Vizier took the hat from her for a moment with trembling hands and looked at it, brushing the small amount of dust off the rim before putting it on top of that red hair. Raye saw something click in green woman's eyes, a decision being made.

"Come with me." Elphaba said, grabbing the girl's hand and leading her out of the room. At first Raye feared that the Vizier had changed her mind and decided to turn her in after all, but they went _up_ the stairs. Not down. When they reached the very top of the tower the green woman opened a heavy wooden door and pulled the teenager in, closing it behind them and locking it with a large iron key. With a one-word command a ring of blue fire traced the outline of the door, magically sealing the entrance against outsiders. The red-head looked around the room with her mouth hanging open. Now _this_, this was a Sorceress' workroom. Book shelves lined the walls, filled with texts on a variety of subjects as well as various potion bottles and supplies both magical and mundanely (but needed) stationary. She didn't have much time for her slack-jawed wonder though.

"The Monkeys tell me this is the best spot for a good take-off, especially since it's your first. There's a tree line close by that you can use to hide in if you need to, and you need to get clear this place soon. But I'll be _damned_ if you go without something to help…here." She pulled open the satchel and dropped another smaller bag with some supplies in it.

"Wait a clock-tick, now you're not just _letting_ me go. You're _helping_ me. Aiding and abetting a fugitive." The Mage said in suspicious confusion as she regarded the green woman. "Why?"

"Because you're too much like me. Even after only a few minutes I can already see that." Elphaba told her in a pained voice. Tentatively, hesitantly, _longingly _she pushed a long strand of red hair out of Rhonaraye's face with trembling green fingers. "And as much as I want you to stay here...and believe me when I say that I want that more than anything…" she took a deep, shaky breath and met the girl's eyes—_her_ eyes; exactly the same in shape and startling colour, before finishing "But I don't think that you would do any better in a gilded cage."

Raye's brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to puzzle out the older witch's strange reaction. She didn't _want_ to let her go? Then why in Oz was she doing it? Wasn't she supposed to be the Wizard's right hand? But then, the teenager also knew how reliable _that_ source was. Besides, she seemed to be a prisoner herself. Was it fear that made her reluctant to send the redhead on her way? Elphaba didn't seem the kind to be intimidated quite like that, even if she had managed to find herself trapped in this place. _And_ she'd recognized the broom, not just as a magical artifact but the broom _itself_.

"Go." Elphaba prompted, helping her onto the window ledge. The girl looked down at her, still unsure of what she was about to do, and still baffled at the Vizier's actions and reactions.

"Who are you?" Raye asked her bluntly.

"Go!" Elphaba repeated with vehemence before lowering her voice to a whisper "Defy Gravity." That caught the teenager's attention and her head snapped back towards Elphaba's face

"What did you sa—aiehh!" her whispered question melded into a startled cry as one of the winged Monkeys pushed her into the open air while she was still not quite on the broom. The matriarch of the Primate clan shook her head. Younglings. They always needed a push that first time; humans could be so slow to catch onto that. Sometimes the parents needed that push too, like her mistress in this case apparently. One who knew that it had to be done but still had trouble doing it.

Elphaba's breath hitched and her heart pounded in terror for one interminably long moment. Then in the next the young Mage had hauled herself onto the broom and angled the handle instinctively, shooting upwards into the sky. The look on her face was one of pure wonder and exhilaration as she absorbed the fact that she was _flying_. She quickly adjusted enough to the adrenaline rush for questions to once again pop up.

"What about you?" she asked the green witch. "Come _with _me."

Ohh…that was a _very_ tempting offer. But she shook her head, her gaze tortured.

"Just go. Forget about me and save your friend. Be _free_. So go. Go, fly, **go**!"

The redhead opened her mouth as though to argue, but changed her mind when she heard a yell from the ground drawing attention to her position in the air. With an apologetic glance at the Vizier she turned the broom around, leaned foreword and sped off into the night. The green woman watched her go with such incredible pride swelling within her chest. She felt a smile spread across her face and an exhilarated laugh escape her lips even as her eyes watered with the conflicting pride, elation and despair.

Her daughter lived. And Elphaba loved her with all her heart. Her daughter lived and was following in her mother's footsteps. Her daughter lived. But it was doubtful that she would ever know her mother.

"And so it begins again." Elphaba whispered to herself before closing her eyes. It was to no avail. The tears still ran down her cheeks.

8888888888888

Liir called after Rhonaraye to no avail as she pushed past him and Annette, ignoring their questions and protests for her to wait for them. The pair was about to follow her when they were nearly trampled by an entire squad of Gale Force troopers. They both heard the alarm sound seconds later and less then a moment after that Liir was tearing after her. It wasn't long before he abandoned the idea of catching up to her in the palace altogether and started sprinting for the stables. What told him where to go, he wasn't entirely sure.

The horse he chose seemed to know the urgency, or at least sense it for it moved far faster than he had ever ridden it in the past. Then again, could it be that this was not a horse, but a Horse? He was still unaccustomed to thinking of these possibilities that his mother had always been so meticulous about. So was it he who knew where they were going, or his mount? Either way, they arrived at their destination within 20 minutes of their departure from the palace. He was half-surprised to find himself at a mine shaft. He hadn't even known there _were _mine shafts outside of the city!

Unfortunately, it seemed that he was about 15 minutes too late to stop her, for he could see the signs of struggle even at the entrance. A wagon had been overturned and de-railed and the two sentries at the entrance (why did they have a Gale Force Captain at a mine?) were both unconscious. Unconscious and admittedly bleeding, but alive.

Liir had to steel himself to plunge headlong into that dark, forbidding tunnel. For a moment's pause he wasn't sure if he could do it. But he did. He ran in search of his fiery redheaded friend in spite of his fear. Everything made him jump at first, but then it was almost as though the opposite of what had happened at the party was occurring, like someone's calm was feeding into him. But what was that smell that filled his nostrils? It smelled of blood. And of rot. He nearly tripped over what was unmistakably a shackle at one point. There were signs of his friend everywhere in the form of unconscious guards and shattered restraints. A few of the guards were badly bloodied— he wouldn't like to place a bet that they had all lived— but their wounds were not all inflicted by one human girl. From what Liir could see in the shadows the soldiers and foremen sported rather Animalistic injuries, though several _did _sport smarting welts pierced with splinters that seemed to be the result of a wooden tool. Whatever the case was, he didn't stop to check on each and every one of these men, he was nearly at his destination anyway, he could hear the commotion.

Liir had just rounded the corner when suddenly, without warning, the young man was seized from behind by a great Wildebeest, a hoofed foreleg powerful enough to crush his bones imprisoning him in a stranglehold. The Animal had no doubt deduced what Liir had been slow to remember; that soldiers would undoubtedly have followed him out of the city, even if just to protect him.

"I will not let some scrawny princeling keep me here!" the Beast growled as the grip tightened, cutting off Liir's air supply completely and making his face start to turn purple. His sudden wheeze made two figures whip around in their direction.

"No!" a familiar voice yelled as a red-haired teenager lunged forward a couple of steps to emphasize the cry with her body language. Both the unexpected sound and movement caused both Liir and the Wildebeest to look up, the death-grip on the young man's throat relaxing just slightly enough in shock to allow a tiny amount of air to pass through Liir's trachea so that he was able to see the scene in front of him.

There was a giant hole in the cavern wall, larger than any of the tunnels through which the prisoners were hobbling their way out as fast as they could. Standing at the mouth of this newly-formed cave ushering Animals through was Jack, the Donkey (looking a bit bruised and a little worse for wear but otherwise alright). However, both Liir and his captor were far more interested in the teenage girl who had made the exclamation. Her wild red hair was escaping its ponytail to frame her face. Her glasses were chipped and her jacket ripped, but she still commanded an uncontestable air of power as she leveled her ice-like silver stare on them, the knuckles turning white on the hand in which she clutched a worn, scraggly-looking broom.

At first Liir wasn't sure that the Wildebeest was going to listen. Raye seemed uncertain as well.

"**Stop**." she ordered, an edge to her voice giving her presence and authority. "You kill him and I swear I _will_ leave you to the Gale Force!" she threatened the Wildebeest darkly, just to ensure her point made its way across. To the young man's surprise and relief, the huge Beast released him. He fell to his knees coughing and gasping for breath while clutching at his bruising neck gingerly. He could hear the Wildebeest's angered huffs of breath close by and watched Raye for a moment, as did Jack and many others. The girl didn't break eye contact with the Wildebeest even as she pivoted in an invitation for him to pass by her.

"Hurry." she said coldly, pointing at the tunnel. The Wildebeest's eyes narrowed, but then of all surprising turns he nodded curtly to her and charged his way through. She watched him go a second before turning to Jack

"Mirisee should be here soon. Go. I'll wait for her." She told him. The Donkey shook his head, refusing to leave. Just then, as if conjured by their conversation there was a trumpeting whinny and a beautiful black Mare came galloping down the shaft. Jack brayed joyfully in return and ran to meet her halfway. The two nuzzled each other even as they made a bid for their freedom. The Equine pair paused a few feet in and looked back over their shoulder. She nodded at them to indicate that they should go before turning back to Liir.

"Are you alright?" Rhonaraye asked him as she hurried over and knelt by his side. He coughed and nodded, rubbing his neck absentmindedly. There were still a few stragglers limping through, but Raye was pretty much the last one when the sounds of more soldiers clamoring towards them in the labyrinth-like mine. Her head whipped around in the direction of the noise, her hair flaring out artistically for a moment in a way that reminded Liir of flames. Her silver eyes widened and she started to jump to her feet only to have Liir grab her arm.

"Wait!" He exclaimed.

"I _can't_." she whispered, communicating a lot in those two words. The swiftly approaching sounds of soldiers made her gasp and leap to her feet, twisting out of his grip. She looked in the direction of her entrance, then at her exit and then at him. No sooner had her silver eyes locked onto his brown ones he heard that familiar voice speak in his head.

**_Come with us Li. _**It implored, invoking the nickname that only one person had ever given him.

And that person hadn't been "real". Or…so he had thought.

"Nari?" he breathed aloud. Raye nodded slowly, her gaze pleading.

"I…I don't…" he stammered. His hesitation cost them, for the next moment the soldiers (possessing a much greater amount of muscle than brains, clearly) finally broke into the now (nearly) deserted cavern.

"There she is! That's the veteran vetigan! The new Witch of the West!" one of them shrieked, obviously trying to imitate a battle charge. Rhonaraye's lip curled

"Do you _ever_ come up with any new names, or are your poor little brains too inbred for more than a double-digit IQ to surface?" she jibed cruelly as she backed up a few steps into the mouth of the tunnel she'd created.

"No! Wait! Stop!" Liir yelled. Or at least he tried to yell. The volume he produced was a mere croak thanks to his run-in with the Wildebeest. Bruises were already starting to show on his throat.

"We have you surrounded!" The same officer crowed as they formed a semi circle around the mouth of the new tunnel. Raye leaned forward in a hostile position with the broom end pointed like some kind of weapon at them as she backed into the new tunnel. The men trying to take her into custody clearly had not realized that adjective yet. "We're taking you into custody!"

Raye snorted. Then she started to laugh as she straightened and planted her broom like a staff in the ground next to her. It was a deep-throated chuckle that was made even more ominous by the echo created by the underground. The effect was subtle, but powerful.

"You think so?" she asked in a dangerous whisper.

"Come quietly or we'll bring you in by force by the Decree of His Wonderfulness the Wizard of Oz!" their apparent leader said, all of them still training their rifles on her. She started to chuckle again.

"Take me in _by force_?" she asked in mock incredulity before her expression hardened "Well, in that case, what am I to do? But first, why don't you pass on a message to the Wizard and his Handler from me?" She said. Liir knew what Raye was about to do long before they did but made no move to warn them, though he didn't move to join her either. She swiveled one foot back so that she was partially turned to run but still was looking right at them. In a flash she reached a hand out to snatch at the air and yank the fist she formed back towards her with a grunt of effort, making the ground shake and a torrent of dirt and rocks come crashing down to form a wall between her and them as she started racing down her escape route, undoubtedly closing it behind her as she went. Amidst the sounds of the cave-in her parting words to them echoed off the walls.

"Tell them I'd just _love _to see them _try_."

**_Alright. Wow. I really like my italics in this chapter. Hm. Random moment there, sorry. Anyway, usual drill. Please leave me a review. And now for my lovely reviewers;_**

**_lizziemagic: _**Sorry! I didn't get a chance to PM you! But oh, my GOD! ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! EPIC! AMAZING! I was actually kind of worried that I had built it up so much in my mind that I might be disapointed but it turned out my imagination had not given it justice! SO AMAZING!

Yeah, I'd cut out the medallion thing from before so I thought it would be a nice touch.

**_WickedWriterOfTheWest: _**I saw a touring version in my hometown, but I was exactly the same! I'm not normally a screamy person, in fact I can't scream on command, but I was cheering SOOO loudly at the end of defying gravity! Anyway (XD) Did this chapter please you as much as the last one?

**_Beautifully Tragic Girl: _**I'll try and keep my posting as regular as possible, thanks for your patience. Thank you once again and here you are. Elphaba meets Raye. What did you think?

**_Sunrise19: _**Thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews! Okay, I know I didn't answer all of your questions when I replied to your review, but I can't remember which one(s) I didn't answer...sorry. long day and my brain is just about fried. You're right, tension was building, the ending of the last chapter didn't bode well. But that's part of the fun of writing it to tell you the truth. I hope this chapter was to your satisfaction? Did you have a good Halloween too?

**_AnnaMarieRaven: _**You bet. Like the play on words by the way.

**_twilighterjf4ever: _**Wow, thanks! Its great to hear that you are enjoying it! Trust me, I enjoyed Wicked, thanks for asking! You guys are all so sweet and thoughtful!

**_mselphabathropp109: _**Thanks! Did you like Raye and Elphaba's meeting?


	17. Part 2 Introduction

**Disclaimer: Not Mine. **

**_Part 2 Intro._**

from last chapter:

_"Come quietly or we'll bring you in by force by the Decree of His Wonderfulness the Wizard of Oz!" their apparent leader said, all of them still training their rifles on her. She started to chuckle again_

_"Take me in by force?" she asked incredulously before her expression hardened "Well then why don't you pass on a message to the Wizard and his Handler from me." She said. Liir knew what Raye was about to do long before they did but made no move to warn them, though he didn't move to join her either. She swiveled one foot back so that she was partially turned to run but still was looking right at them. In a flash she reached a hand out to snatch at the air and yank the fist she formed back towards her with a grunt of effort, making the ground shake and a torrent of dirt and rocks come crashing down to form a wall between her and them as she started racing down her escape route, undoubtedly closing it behind her as she went. Amidst the sounds of the cave-in her parting words to them echoed off the walls. _

_"Tell them I'd love to see them try." _

**_3 (and a bit) years later._**

Candle had been sleeping rather well that night. This surprised people, for there had been a terrible storm and she was known as a skittish thing. But storms were never what had bothered her. People were what terrified her. Human males were the ultimate ordeal for the Quadling girl. Normally storms lulled her to sleep instead of keeping her awake, the erratic thunder and powerful flashes of lightening soothing and calming her along with the rhythmic patter of rain on the roof and windows.

However, during that particular stormy night something woke the quadling. A particularly powerful bolt of lightning struck the ground nearby and felled a tree before the thunder remembered to boom. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on edge. Candle could read the Present, a rare gift, therefore she knew exactly who was coming to the door so that by the time the large, wolf-like dog started to bark bloody murder outside the house she was already waiting in her dressing gown to open the door.

"Killyjoy!" she exclaimed as the mutt rushed in and started fussing at her. He grabbed the edge of her sleeve in his teeth and started to pull. It was then that the young woman saw the dark figure materialize in a puff of smoke which was quickly dissipated by the downpour.

"Doctor Akota, hurry!" Candle cried. She had taken the liberty of waking him as soon as she had been certain who was on their way, but the Bear was not yet fully up. It took mere seconds for him to emerge from his room after her fearful, urgent summons though. He joined her side at the door and she pointed to the approaching figure, huddled and voluminous. Struggling and staggering in a zigzagging path to the cottage, it caused quite a splash and slipped in the mud more than once. It what was in truth very little time, but after what felt like an eternity the figure stumbled across the threshold of the cottage, forcing the Bear and the Quadling to step aside to allow it entry. When it finally made it inside it collapsed to the ground, revealing itself to, in fact, be two people; a young woman clutching a tall wooden staff with an ornately carved top and a man the same age as her. The young male was unconscious, his female companion half carrying him in when she fell to her knees. She was clutching him to her tightly and allowed the staff that she was normally so possessive of to clatter to the floor as though it meant nothing to her. She was whimpering something to him, but they could only catch one word in three. Something about 'holding on' and 'love' and 'brother'. She whispered something that sounded like a name too, but they didn't quite catch it.

The young woman looked terrible. Her long, scarlet hair had darkened several shades with the dripping wet and matted strands clung to her face. The soggy dark brown cloak that had been cast over both of them dragged her down and her skirts wound around her legs as though trying to trip her. Any flesh that showed beneath the grime and blood (most of it, thankfully, not her own if Candle was any judge) was paler than usual. She was hunched over with the weight of her burden and seemed to be having difficulty sucking in enough air herself.

The man she was pulling in was worse.

The blood that covered him was mostly his own. The clothing he was wearing was in tatters and, like the red-haired woman's, caked in mud, blood and substances that Candle was not sure anyone really wanted identifying. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life by the looks of it. Actually, no. _Beaten _was not the right word. Not strong enough to describe what the Doctor suspected had occurred. Had this poor blighter been tortured for information, sport or the manipulation of someone else? His face was an unholy, swollen, pulpy, bloodied mess and he rattled when he breathed. The large and kindly Bear rushed forward and managed to pry the young man out of the redhead's grasp to that he could take him away to operate. It was a surprisingly difficult task. She refused to let go. It took him and Candle to do it with the dog barking and fussing and being an overall nuisance the whole time.

Once the feat was accomplished the Doctor scooped the man up into his powerful arms as though he weighed nothing and hurried off to surgery. Candle recoiled from him. Not from the bear, but the patient. She wouldn't go near the males of her species. The Bear knew this.

"Candle, look after Rhonaraye! Try and get her into something dry if you can while I attend to this!"

The soaking wet redhead watched him carry the boy away with wide, silver eyes before hunching over further and covering her face with her hands in despair apparently oblivious to his instructions for her. This patient Candle _would_ go near. However, before she rushed to the half-drowned mage's side she paused, noticing something in the window. The Quadling knew for a fact it was not there a second before and the residual glow surrounding the strange flower proved this assumption as she plucked the rose from the window. She looked at it, then at the newcomer before rushing to the other woman's side. This particular individual was one of the few that the quiet Quadling could and would talk with, so she did.

"Lady Rhonaraye!" She breathed, her silent question hanging in the air. It was too obvious to put into words without mildly insulting both of them. The mage was clearly not alright. The redhead looked up at Candle with such anguish that the other girl did not show her the rose. Normally Raye protested the use of the title 'lady', especially from Candle whom she desired to count a friend. This was perhaps the first time that the Mage had not begged her to cease in her stubborn usage of the honorific. It was then that Killyjoy, very distressed by the distress of his mistress, snuffled at the discarded blossom. Rhonaraye saw it. Her beautiful silver eyes widened with a range of emotions from despair to raw, pure, terrifying rage. She shoved Candle aside and snatched up the rose in her filthy hand, causing the glow to flare up. She stared at it for a minute before clenching her fingers into claws around it with and causing the rose to quiver. With a strangled cry of passionate fury and turmoil erupting from her lips she withered and blackened the blossom before throwing it into the fire with all her might, the embers leapt up into a full-scale blaze to receive the meager kindling as though terrified of the mage.

Candle took a sharp intake of breath and tensed, expecting the young redhead to fly off the handle and bring the entire place down with her. She wouldn't destroy something just for the sake of it, the Quadling knew that, but she had heard what happened if the redhead truly lost it. She shut her eyes, waiting for the destruction to hit.

Instead the mage did something that Candle had not thought her capable of.

She started to cry.

Not just flimsy tears, but harsh, wretched hyperventilating sobs that doubled her over as she clutched at her sides. The Quadling felt fear rise anew in her throat. She had never seen the other girl like this and had only ever heard of her being in this state once before. Breakdowns were by no means a regular occurrence with the Great Mage Rhonaraye Throular. This did not bode well. She knelt in front of her and tentatively reached out to rest a hand on the cloaked woman's dripping shoulder gingerly, not caring that her legs were getting wet from the growing puddle that was being created by a combination of the newcomer's soggy clothing in and the rain pelting in through the open door. Killyjoy was whimpering, as disturbed by his mistress's distress as Candle was.

Suddenly the redhead seized Candle's arms, prompting a muffled cry of alarm from the skittish Quadling. However it was the terror and desperation in those bright, tear-reddened silver eyes that scared her more than the action itself.

"Please Candle!" she sobbed. Candle knew full well what the Mage was asking and froze like a deer caught in a light. The redhead shook her in desperation as she implored through her hysterics, "Please Candle, please! I'm begging you! Candle! I have never asked you for anything for myself before and I swear to never ask again! Please, Candle _please_!"

Candle reeled back and the Mage released her before folding in on herself with more of those heartbroken, agonized sobs wracking her thin frame. Killyjoy the dog whined some more and nudged at her arm with his nose, prompting her to seize him and crush him to her to sob into his fur. The wolf-dog didn't seem to mind. Every once in a while Raye herself would spasm and cry out in pain from apparent injuries that Candle could not determine. Somehow, possibly through her ability to read the present, she sensed that the physical agony her friend seemed to be going through was somehow not…entirely the mage's. It made little sense to her but kept her rooted to the spot a few feet away, out of arm's reach. Raye kept choking out her request into Killyjoys fur until finally she screamed her desperate plea in a shriek that would echo in the Quadling's memory for the rest of her life.

"**_PLEASE!" _**

**_

* * *

_**

**He he he. Big cliffy there, huh? Well, there's your part 2 intro. A little short, but...**

**Veterans of this story from the first time around can see that here we start to see some more obvious changes. But anyway, please tell me what you think by pressing that friendly little review button...**

**Speaking of, now to my reviewers.**

_**SunRise19: **_Something funny, I'm listening to defying gravity while updating this! :) No seriously, I am! Well, I guess the top part answered your first question and if your other questions, well that would be telling, wouldn't it? The answers'll come up, don't worry. You'll see.

_**: **_The story is long. I'm not going to lie. I do have it planed out though, yes. And, okay a little spoiler. We do eventually get the entire family into one room. Eventually. I'm still in the process of reworking and rearranging, so I can't say how far off the first stage of that reunion will be, but we do get all of them in the same spot at some point, I promise!

_**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **_Why thank you! And don't worry about it, thank you for reviewing at all! That line is my favourite too! Anyway, here's your update, please tell me what you think, and you have a lovely day too!

_**lizziemagic: **_Ohmigosh, like is not a strong enough word for the complete ecstasy I was in watching it! SO incredible! Aw man, I'm going to miss you! Enjoy your trip! Thanks so much for your review and I hope that when you get the chance to read it, you will like this chapter too. Have fun!

**_WickedWriterOftheWest:_** Thanks! Don't worry, it'll come to you, thanks for taking the time to review! This feed-back-obsessed fanfic writer really appreciates it!


	18. Part 2 Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: Not mine. _**

**_This is a long chapter, but an important one. Catches you guys up with some of the stuff from the last few years and has some scenes I really enjoyed writing included, I tried to keep some good action stuff and some drama in there for you. Read and review please._**

**_Part 2 Chapter 1._**

Liir was lost.

He didn't know why, but he just couldn't seem to find his way out of this dense fog that surrounded him. He couldn't even remember how he had gotten here. He had been searching for something, hadn't he? Or was it someone? What did he remember last?

Rhonaraye…his friend. His friend and something, something more? She was the last thing he remembered before blacking out. But it went back further. She'd met his grandfather. He'd left; she'd stayed behind to get something. Five minutes later, she was running away. He'd tried to stop her, she'd asked him to come with her. Why hadn't he gone with her?

As he was holding onto this lifeline he heard music. Strange, beautiful music. It helped to ground him and he continued on this puzzle of his past, his thoughts still treading down the path of this friend and the impact she'd had on his life. Wait, she was something more than a friend…Unbidden a flashback flooded his mind.

_It was only a few hours after Rhonaraye had made her rather impressive escape. Liir had been fussed over by Glinda and the medics of course. His mother come to see him in the infirmary as well and crushed him to her in a rare show of public affection, her reticence forgotten in her love for her son when she saw the ugly bruises on his neck resulting from the Wildebeest's attempt to choke him. His voice had been hoarse, but he'd told them what the other soldiers said about the mine escape and the cave in, though he omitted embellishment and refused to accuse Raye of anything apart from freeing prisoners. It was only to his mother, in private, that he described the details. She had listened attentively with an unreadable expression on her face. A few hours later he had slipped into his grandfather's chambers to have the old man fuss rather tryingly. _

_He must have fallen asleep in one of the chairs in the shadows for he was awoken by Morrible and his Grandfather discussing his friend Rhonaraye. The conversation was enlightening if not pleasant to hear as they brainstormed on how to capture or deface her. Preferably both. They hadn't gotten far into their conversation, however, when the door opened and slammed shut with a resounding boom. A key turned in the lock and Elphaba stormed into the room. From his position in the shadows Liir remained hidden from his mother's immediate view, though he apparently was not who she was looking for. _

_"You!" She growled, looking straight ahead of her and not seeing Liir at all. _

_A murderous look on her face, the green woman made a beeline for Morrible. She charged up to the carp-like woman, shoving the Wizard out of her way and sending him sprawling as she backed up her old School Head until she shoved the older woman against the wall of the contraption that held up the giant metallic head. _

_"Now, now Elphaba…" Morrible said in a shaky voice in attempt to either placate or threaten the Vizier. Either way, Elphaba was not having it._

_"What really happened 15 years ago?" she demanded in a dangerous voice. _

_"What are you talking about dear?" Morrible inquired in that disgustingly sweet, patronizing tone she so often used. A very big mistake. Elphaba's silver eyes flashed and her nostrils flared as her hand snapped up to the area beneath the carp-woman's fat chin that passed for a neck. Morrible's fishy eyes bulged further. The Wizard cried out in alarm and Liir stiffened in shock._

_"You know **exactly** what I'm talking about!" Elphaba snarled. _

_"Elphaba!" The Wizard barked feebly, trying to tell her that her son was in the room. He never got the chance. Her head whipped in his direction and the burning glare she sent him shut him up._

_"You **stay out of this!" **she yelled viciously, her voice reverberating off the walls with a power the contraption had never quite managed to convey. However, while the two males were slackjawed and tense, Morrible (unwisely given her current position) was smug._

_"You mean the little girl? I knew it was you who helped the stupid little trollop escape." The press secretary said snidely. She quickly realized that insulting young Miss Throular was not something she wanted to be doing in this position._

_"Watch your tongue or I'll ensure you never speak another word!" The Vizier hissed, her thin fingers digging into Morrible's neck painfully. "Now tell me! _What **happened**_? What did you do?" she relaxed her grip ever so slightly to allow the other woman to answer. _

_"Absolutely nothing to the whelp on the day she was born." The fish-like woman admitted smugly, knowing that Elphaba couldn't fault the truth. Indeed, the green woman, though her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, released her grip on the Press Secretary's neck. The Wizard stayed where he was, fear of his daughter and perverse curiosity rooting him to the spot. Liir, too, made no move. This was important._

_"Fine. But you knew. How long have you known?" Elphaba asked darkly. Morrible wasn't happy about the change in question or the fact that the Green Witch had known she hadn't actually lied. _

_"How long has she known what?" The Wizard asked in confusion, at a total loss as to what was going on._

_"_How long_?" she repeated, taking a half-step closer to tower menacingly over her hated jailer. With a grimace the older witch finally answered. _

_"Since she displayed her power at the Academy." The older witch replied through clenched teeth_

_"I'm not the only one who has power, and Liir never displayed such things when he was young." Elphaba stated. "What **else**?" _

_Sensing that she truly was in danger here if she didn't answer, Morrible rolled her eyes and only hesitated a moment before answering. _

_"She resembles you." _

_The Green woman let out a harsh, humorless laugh at that_

_"There isn't even a hint of green in her skin."_

_"What are you talking about?" Asked the Wizard in confusion, not comprehending the conversation even if he understood the sense of gravity to it. Liir shared his confusion._

_"I thought you of all people would be able to see past such a triviality as colour." The Press Secretary jibed, ignoring the man who was supposedly her boss. Elphaba didn't take the bait. _

_"I might be able to, but no one else does." _

_"As soon as I saw her drenched in paint, so could I. I saw how much she looked like you. She has your build, your bone structure. Not to mention those eyes!" She said. Liir still made no sound as he was rendered motionless with the revelation that seemed to have come to light. They couldn't mean…no. No way. The way his mother was talking…but he was an only child! Wasn't he? _

_Elphaba seethed silently a few more moments then backed away several steps. Liir had never seen her so angry and vibrant in all his life. She suddenly whirled around and pointed one long green index finger at them, moving it accusingly from one to the other._

_"Listen carefully, you two. You may still be able to hold Liir as an unwitting hostage against me,"_

_"Hostage?" Liir whispered to himself._

_"Watch yourself Elphaba." Morrible interrupted the Withc's rant coldly "There's more than one way to skin a Cat. We have been gentle with you until now. There are far more substantial means of quelling this insubordination!"_

_"What? With that page you tore out of my book? HERE!" She made a slashing motion in the air and a knife materialized, hitting the floor with a clatter and sliding to a spot between the Wizard and Morrible. She yanked up the sleeve of her dress to expose a green forearm. _

_"Try it! Go on, come and take my blood! Or would you prefer a finger? Go on, I dare you! Try and bind me! We will see what happens when you finally go too far and bite off more than you can chew!" she raged at them. Liir wondered what exactly this 'binding' spell did, though quite frankly he wasn't sure he wanted his question answered. His mother was still talking._

_"But if anything, and I mean _anything_ happens to Liir or to his sister there is no power in this world or the next that will stop me from ensuring you get what's coming to you! And **YOU**!" she looked straight at Madame Morrible and pointed her jabbing finger at the other woman viciously. Morrible squared her shoulders and raised her chin combatively. Fishy eyes met steely silver, but for the first time in years, the latter did not back down. Elphaba was no longer as alone nor as much of a dejected failure as she had thought. This revelation had given her sapped strength and spirit renewed life. _

_"Sleep with one eye open." Elphaba snarled at Morrible before whirling around and stalking towards the door. _

_When she reached it her expression changed from thunderously enraged to wide-eyed, slack-jawed shock, for her son was standing in front of it with a similar look on his face._

_"Sister?" he demanded in a whisper. _

_Music that was out of place in that instance danced its way into the flashback, causing the scene to dissolve…_

The memory faded, but remained, no longer trapping him but still available for access. The music seemed to be guiding him. He did already have one tether in his mind that seemed to connect him to the world, one that had brought him his imaginary friend as a child and helped him to connect with the very corporeal and grown up version of that companion. It was also what had caused him to wake screaming and writhing in inexplicable agony not once, but twice in the past three years.

He had this connection, but that was all it was; a lifeline that kept him from spiraling deeper into the darkness— no more. It wasn't able to pull him back, just keep him from falling further and let him know that there was a _back_ to go to. The eerily beautiful notes were showing him the path to take to return. Other memories of the past three years passed by him, reminding him of the more mundane facts and the events that had lead him to this point.

He remembered the conversation with his mother in which she had finally divulged to him that he had been born a twin and that she had been lead to believe up until that point that his sister had died, thus leading him to understand the state she would put herself into after she thought him gone to bed on his birthday. He remembered deciding to continue schooling in the Emerald City rather than return to the Academy. He had specifically requested, much to his mother's surprised pleasure (and Morrible's indignant outrage), that _she_ continue his education in sorcery. Eventually a deal had been worked in which the two women shared the duty, though it was a very shaky deal indeed.

Speaking of shaky deals, Glinda had caved in and married that Sir Chuffery. Elphaba had not approved and was quickly vindicated in her suspicion. The match had not lasted more than a year and a half before the blonde had fled to the Green woman's tower in terror, her beautiful face a mess after her husband had beaten her particularly badly. This had been the last straw for Chuffery and he'd gotten a rather nasty shock when he'd come to try and 'collect' his wife by force. There had been a great scandal of course, but Elphaba had refused to budge and it was Glinda's protector who won the battle, hands down.

Overall, it had not been a good time for romance. Liir and Annette had fallen out of love with each other, if they had ever really been _in_ love before. Oh they still liked one other, as friends. Both of them had, in short, changed.

Annette had dropped the debutante routine. She still dressed stylishly, but applied herself to study groups rather than social circles. She was on her way to becoming quite the skilled architect actually with her personal fashion used merely as a means of self expression. She always kept that blue streak in her hair, for example, though only she and her fiery redheaded friend would know what that meant. Also, much to Morrible intense annoyance, Annette had figured out how to work with the meager power she did have to become a competent hedge witch as well.

They had broken up, been pressured back together, broken up again, been pushed back together. In short, they'd become the damn 'it' couple in spite of the fact that Liir was starting to question certain things about himself. He'd had a few…interesting dreams that involved _boys_ rather than girls in recent years, yet even with their arrival he still felt attracted to the ladies as well. This had all left him very confused. Regardless, he and Annette just wanted to be friends, and they doubted that was going to be possible if they were going to continually be shoved into an already dead relationship over and over.

Liir had joined the Gale Force less than a year ago. He needed the lessons in survival and combat that they provided if nothing else. It was Liir's intention to one day to run away to find his twin for not only was his greatest regret not leaving with her, but this action would liberate his mother. If his Grandfather and Morrible could not threaten _him_, he doubted they would be able to contain Elphaba any longer. He and his mother bided their time though. It was almost as though she was waiting for something, some sort of signal.

Politically, Oz was not doing very well either. The incident with Chuffery and Glinda had sent the rich old bag off with a huff, withdrawing all the monetary support with which he endorsed the Wizard. There were also the Goblins to consider. They had their own long history of course, but Liir knew little of it. All he knew was that they had attacked when he was a child and that his mother had driven them back. Now they were hounding at Oz's doorstep again. Sweeping this problem under the carpet wouldn't work for long. It was getting harder and harder for Glinda and Morrible to convince the sheep-brained citizens of their increasingly ridiculous propaganda where they tried to sell current times as a "Golden Age." Then again, the fact that some _were_ buying that was, quite frankly, disturbing. Was it something in the water that made E.C residents so infernally gullible?

Then there were the Animals. Strikes and Revolts were becoming more frequent, and mysterious things kept happening with prisoners associated with the rebellion. They tended to disappear before they could be executed, tried or (if Liir would allow himself to think this of his beloved grandfather) tortured. They would simply vanish. Elphaba always relished news like this, prompting Liir to believe that even though Morrible couldn't pin it on her, his mother did at least know who was doing it. He did too, in fact. He always sensed _her_ nearing proximity, but never divulged that information, justifying that no one would believe him anyway. He was curious about how Rhonaraye was managing to pull those stunts off. It had started mere months before, but every breakout was effective.

None of them had heard from Raye or Jack since that fateful day 3 years ago though. Not officially. Liir knew she was alive and he knew when she was near unless she was deliberately blocking him. He missed her. He still 'talked' to his long-lost sister when she wasn't completely shut off to him or out of range (they had perfected the skill of telepathy between the two of them) but she was still always so careful with what she allowed him to see or hear in her mind, which was precious little. What was she hiding? That was a poor question. She hid everything. Their 'conversations' consisted mostly of his life. His sister didn't even tell him when she was coming to pay a call on the Emerald City.

It was as though the music and his mind had agreed that this was a good spot to start and he found himself slipping back into that scene only a few weeks before…

88888

Liir had been on Guard Duty; a tedious exercise in which he and a few other members of the Gale Force sat around outside a bunch of the dungeons, ensuring that those who awaited their sham of a trial remained where they were and did not take their own life while confined. To pass the time they played cards and gambled. This was strictly forbidden of course, but Liir wasn't about to rat them out. In fact, he would join in when they let him. It was often he who provided the poker chips. Not that this really helped. The others still resented that a kid still not yet 20 had been fast-tracked into Lieutenancy, not that he blamed them.

"So Princeling," one of his fellow guards said mockingly as the cards were dealt, "You think this makes you one of us?"

"Not really, since you so obviously dislike it." The young man quipped. Spending more time with his mother seemed to have made at least some of the wit she and his sister both possessed rub off on him.

"Maybe I dislike those who get special treatment!" the man growled. Liir didn't bother to continue with the conversation. He couldn't deny the obvious favoritism he received. He looked at his cards instead. He had a good hand, but considered throwing the game. He didn't want their money or the increased hostility winning a large pot would afford him from the guards. However, it turned out not to be an issue. Halfway through the game the candle on their table flickered and blew out. Not only that, but Liir felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck at the sudden feeling of immense power close by.

"Did you see that?" one of Liir's comrades asked, pointing to the snuffed wick.

"So what? A breeze blew out the candle." One of the gruffer, grumpier men grumbled.

"What breeze? We're in a dungeon whose only window is unbreakable glass!" Liir pointed out, wishing immediately that he had kept his mouth shut.

"So someone opened a door." The soldier said, slouching in his chair and pulling his helmet over his eyes. The soldier who had pointed out the candle leaned over into his face

"Who?" he asked. Finally it clicked in to the other soldier and they bolted to their feet, scrambling to get weapons ready. Liir followed suit, albeit half-heartedly. This was merely a charade on his part.

Just then there was a splash from the puddle nearest the door.

"He's trying to get away!" the third guard cried and they ran after her, or at least Liir and two of the others did. The fourth, who had been asleep already found a set of claws imbedded in his jacket that pulled him back

"Alone at last." A seductive voice purred in his ear as a furry arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him to the bars. Dislodging her claws from his uniform the female Animal made a fist with her paw which she brought down on the top of his head, knocking him out. She allowed the idiot to fall to the floor once she had garnered the keys. Turning to the other Animals in her cell the cat triumphantly twirled the iron ring on her claw before sticking her arm out a bar and putting one into the lock on the door.

Meanwhile the 'invisible' assailant led the guards on a chase all across the castle, leaving them little 'clues' like broken vases, puddle splashes-all rookie mistakes. Liir noticed after the third or forth. It was as though they were being led on a wild…uh oh.

"Wait a minute!" he cried after they reached the landing of yet another set of stairs. They were now in the Western Tower, nearly at the top.

"What is it? Keep moving!" the sergeant yelled back, panting as he kept climbing the winding staircase.

"Who exactly is guarding the prisoners?" Liir asked them breathlessly. The other guards stopped, exchanged looks, mentally tallied everyone and very eloquently swore. They'd left the dim-witted newbie all by himself.

Of course by the time they reached the dungeons again, the political Animal prisoners were all gone.

Liir could have sworn he heard a chuckle echo through the cell, but couldn't see anyone.

"Wait, they can't get far! How well can a group of mere _Animals_ hide in here? Sound the alarm!" someone said.

_Oh no you don't! _

The stray thought echoed in Liir's mind and he finally realized with slight offense who it was. His sister was here! And she had been _blocking_ him! Him! Her twin! He would never give her up! How could she do him the injustice of mistrusting him to the point where she masked her very presence?

_Oh Liir, come **on** already! _She groaned to him mentally. _I_ _have enough to worry about right now without you getting all huffy! _

Then the chase that ensued was incredibly chaotic. Reinforcements were called in to assist them as they split up into teams to search the castle. People were awoken from their sleep to be informed of the breakout and a few volunteers joined the search of the palace and its grounds. Liir was caught up in the fray. Random little clues sent them all scattering in different directions, and none of the escapees had so much as been sighted.

_It really is like watching a headless chicken running about. _The familiar sarcastic voice commented with disdainful amusement in his head after about a half hour. _Is this honestly supposed to be the high point of civilization? You know, I really think I preferred the roasting in the desert. _

"You're close." He mumbled aloud. He could practically see the eyebrow arching with her reply

_You sure about that? Well? Are you—damn. _

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" but she'd shut herself off again. Liir tore off in search of whatever had caused her to break off the conversation, so it was almost by accident that Liir found himself in one of the smaller, darkened libraries. He wasn't the only one in the lonely room though. In fact, the sound of the door closing behind him was only masked by the noise made by a white Tigress slamming a rather high-ranking official into a bookcase.

The Cat was lithely stretched out in a hostilely predatory manner as she pinned her quarry to the bookcase with one paw pressing down on his larynx, her ears flattened, her long tail swishing in agitated excitement and her claws unsheathed.

"Finally, I see have managed a private audience with you, _signore_." She hissed, baring her sharp eyeteeth in the motion.

"You little Freak! Criminal! Abomination!" the Gale Force general growled. His air supply was further restricted at the comment. Liir was about to go and intervene, but what the Tigress had to say halted him in his tracks.

"No, no, no. You see, here it is I who makes the titles. And I say _you_ are the abomination!" she hissed "You are going to pay for what you did to my mother and my friends! Do you remember my family? Why would you, they were just Animals to you! Never mind the atrocities you committed, they weren't your own species after all. Oh but wait!" She jerked him further into the bookcase and made him gargle as he choked.

"One was." She quipped darkly with eyes that narrowed, "Do you remember that one? The Quadling? A pretty little 12-year-old? She remembers _you_. I don't think she will ever forget how much 'fun' you had with her. You needn't have tried to kill her on top of everything; she wasn't carrying one of your bastards. Well? Anything to say for yourself, war-criminal?" the Tigress demanded. She relaxed her hold on the general's larynx. He sneered at her

"War crimes are against _people_." He spat. Literally. Some spittle landed on the Cat's nose. A very bad move on his part, honestly. Was this man so secure in his ego that he thought himself immortal, an unusual attitude at his age, or was he merely suicidal? Amongst this commotion no one noticed a second door opening and closing off to the side. The Tigress's pupils narrowed to practically non-existent slits as her hackles rose in a hiss of rage and bloodlust. She pulled back her other paw and extended the claws on it further, ready to scrape the man's features right of his face before going for his throat.

"Muhlama!" a new voice barked just before she could do it, her paw jerking to a quivering stop a foot and a half from her quarry's face. An Ape suddenly materialized at a point between Liir and the Tigress as he pulled off a cloak. The Tigress whipped her head around to look at the newcomer and let out another loud hiss as she pulled her paw back again.

"No Mr. Mikko! I'm doing it! He has it coming!"

"No one is arguing that!" The Ape cried, stopping her paw a second time "But we don't have time for this! You want to go back to jail? You want them to get their hands on _her_? You know she won't leave until she knows we're safe and _we've_ got the cape! You think she can lead them on a goose-chase forever without the protection of invisibility?"

"We're not in a lecture hall and you've not been a professor for decades now, Ape! She's done it before and she'll do it again, she's lead them around in circles while under their noses for days on end in the past, _I will not be denied this kill_!"

"You _really_ want a weapon like that in their hands?" The Ape argued. Liir had a sinking suspicion that he knew who they were talking about so proprietarily. "She's not invincible! It would still only take one lucky bullet to injure or perhaps even kill her and then where are we? Leave him for later, we have to go now!"

The Tigress looked mutinous. But, with a final hiss of outrage her claws finally slashed themselves through skin with a cry of pain from her prey. However, while the marks were deep, they were only disfiguring, not by any means dangerous to his health.

"Your days are numbered, murderer." Muhlama spat at him before throwing the man against a nearby desk and knocking him out cold. She turned and ran to and then with the Ape to the door the latter had come in through. However, there she paused and looked around at Liir. Her demeanor changed abruptly and completely upon seeing him. She perked and winked at him before hurrying out to her freedom.

A deep sense of dread settled into Liir. He turned and bolted from the library, completely ignoring the fallen officer and hurrying for the stairs leading to one of the towers where there was a particularly loud commotion. Somehow he was able to push and shove his way past people and make his way up to the top. Oh yes, this was a diversion. A very dangerous gamble of one, but it was nevertheless effective. Almost everyone taking part in half-crazed, chaotic hunt had crowded around the stairwell, blocking off their cunning quarry from double-backing. He finally reached the top where several guards stood with their rifles pointing at a dark-clothed figure that was backed against the edge of the stone precipice. Another step backwards and she would fall to her death.

The intruder had taken precautions to conceal her identity. In addition to the long black robe she sported there was also a black scarf covering the bottom half of her face from halfway down her nose all the way to the bottom of her neck. She wore no cloak, but Liir knew that was because she had given the enchanted article of clothing away, leaving her red hair visible in its sensible bun with wild, stubborn strands escaping to frame her partially-concealed face. She held something long and wooden in her hands that she was pointing at them like some kind of weapon. Her silver eyes darted around in cold calculation until her chilling gaze found Liir's. He gave her a nod and tried to think as loudly as he could without speaking aloud the message that 'they' were out. She gave an almost imperceptible nod before straightening up and standing the wooden object in the ground next to her, revealing it to be a staff, not a broom. Liir could swear he could almost see a smirk beneath that scarf and was certain that was what was under there at the moment as she chuckled in that deep-throated way of hers and gave them a mocking salute.

"Later boys. Always a pleasure." The young woman drawled in Rhonaraye's voice before spreading out her arms and leaning backwards, off the edge of the tower. Several people gasped in horror and a couple rushed forward to lean over and try to see where the body would splat. Instead there was a whooshing sound as a dark blur of shadow streaked upwards into the air with an impressive speed before doing a triumphant loop-de-loop and streaking across the brightly shining full moon…

**Reviews are greatly appreciated...**

**: **_sorry, I just realized that your screenname didn't get up there on my last reply to your review! I don;t know why, because I typed it in at least twice! Anyway, glad you had a good morning and that my story was part of the reason :D _

**elphieT : **_I actually like the way this version is panning out better too, thanks! I'll leave you to decide who's dealing with who on the Morrible/Elphie score. What do you think so far of what everyone's been getting up to?_

**Beautifully Tragic Girl**_: No worries, I can totally relate. Thank you for reviewing period! So, hopefully you got some of the answers, not all but some, right? And this isn't as bad of a cliffe as the last one. Its not really much of a cliffy at all really, but whatevs ;)_

**SunRise19 : **_Ugh. Computer problems. Well, you know from a few chapters ago that I can TOTALLY relate! Good luck! I hope everything gets fixed soon! Glad you're liking._


	19. Part 2 Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not Mine. **

**I appologize if there are any typos in this, i'm kind of updating in a hurry at the moment.**

**Read and Review please.**

**Part 2 Chapter 2 **

The next morning both Morrible and the Wizard were in very bad moods at the breakfast table. The insurgent had not been caught; all their Animal prisoners had escaped and it appeared that the enemy had some spells of their own, ones that the Wizard's forces had not yet mastered. They were desperate to get their hands on that charmed cloak that granted the power of invisibility to its wearer. Unfortunately, the cloak was as out of reach as its owner and the only person in the Emerald City who would have the power to fashion such a device was not inclined to do them much these days.

Elphaba had become a problem. Not as big of one as they had expected though, a mercy that made Morrible all the more suspicious. The green woman was biding her time, but for what? The Weather Witch suspected it was only her son and the worry thereof that kept her here; Elphaba feared that if she was not looming over Morrible's every step that a 'tragically mysterious accident' might befall the boy. Well, she was right to. The thought had certainly crossed Morrible's mind even if the Wizard would have none of it. But he was easy enough to side-step.

The threat within the E.C was Elphaba. Outside it, _well_. Morrible didn't even want to **think** about '_the other one'_. Elphaba's long-lost brat. Not only was the chit dangerous in her own right, but she stirred up dangerous emotions in others, particularly her kin. She made her grandfather hesitate, her brother rebellious and renewed her mother's stubbornness and self-righteous temper with an alarming vigor. But the worst part was that the Press Secretary, in spite of her best efforts, hadn't a clue where this time-bomb of magical and political power was lurking. The girl managed to keep under the radar, always three steps ahead of any pursuers, always clever, always careful. Morrible didn't even know what if any position she held within the Animal Rebellion at this point. Throular had gone underground and shrouded herself with secrecy and mystery.

_Somehow_ she had managed to skirt around and/or in between the tangles of Morrible's extensive net of spies. Oh every once in a while she resurfaced, but even then it was difficult to tell which sightings were rumor and which were genuine. Her position against the Wizard was obvious, but she wasn't as vocal about it as her predecessors had been. Unlike her mother, for example, she didn't openly challenge or directly refute the propaganda which the citizen's of Oz were so very well trained to accept and viciously defend. What she _did_ do was start rumors of her own; Rumors which were difficult to trace back to their source.

She did that annoyingly well. That, and the odd impossible rescue, farmland or forest restoration or general all around Good Deed with that well of power she had.

Bloody, insufferable genius.

The whole thing made slandering her a right nightmare. The image of a mysterious enshadowed angel was very appealing to an eager, excitable public too well fattened on gothic novels. Preferable, it seemed, even to the tantalizing Unifying Threat— something that Morrible could never have predicted, nor could anyone have really. It seemed that the brat had learned from her mother's mistakes in one regard at least.

Yes, the Brat was beyond her reach. But the brat's mother on the other hand…

The Press Secretary would have liked nothing better than to pin the breakout on that imperious green-skinned nuisance, except that she had an air-tight alibi; the twit Glinda, the Wizard and even Morrible herself. They'd all been in the council chamber arguing when the Vizier had suddenly stumbled to the private lavatory located in the chamber and violently vomited into it. Glinda and the Wizard had been terribly worried of course and summoned a physician immediately. She had then been assisted up to her room by her blonde friend and put to bed with minimal complaint. It had been while Glinda was doing this that the alarm had gone off, proving that even though the Press Secretary still suspected Elphaba of conspiracy and involvement, she wasn't one of the perpetrators of the Escape.

The Press Secretary had been tempted to take advantage of the green witch's unexpected moment of vulnerability only to find that Elphaba had managed to inspire at least temporary effectiveness in some of the more useless individuals around her. Glinda-the-idiot was following the Press Secretary around, taking the phrase 'keep your enemies closer' to heart. Besides, with this uproar Morrible didn't have time to murder Elphaba and by the time her work abated enough to give her that time the green woman would undoubtedly be back on her feet.

At that moment Liir came strolling in, decked out in a fashionably Sauvé suit his Godmother had gotten for him. Morrible raised an eyebrow. The boy was surprisingly chipper at such an early hour given the late and exciting night he'd experienced.

She was right. In fact, Liir's mood was the polar opposite to the one-time headmistress of Shiz. His sister was back in Oz! She'd been out of 'range' for weeks, months even. But she had returned! And more over, she was alright. Rhonaraye had always possessed a great deal more control over her mind and therefore their strangely powerful bond than Liir had. She had thereby figured out how to keep him out entirely, almost. Liir felt that he would know if she were dead, or even perhaps dying, (in fact there had been two separate incidences in which he was certain she had come close to that, for he had felt it. Whatever the situation, she had been in utter agony) but other than those extreme cases, Rhonaraye could keep her brother completely in the dark about her life, thoughts and emotions. Could and often did actually, much to his immense irritation.

He was still a little miffed with her for keeping her little 'visit' from him, but he was nevertheless relieved and even a little proud to know that she was up to as much mischief as ever. Therefore it was with a healthy gusto that he devoured his breakfast of hotcakes and eggs. He felt a little bit guilty belatedly when he remembered his mother was still bringing most of her food back up rather unpleasantly. He was determined to go and check on her once he was done. The young man was aware of Morrible watching him with those fishy eyes of hers, but ignored her. Instead he finished his meal and made his formal report to his grandfather, standing with his back straight, shoulders squared and staring directly ahead while he barked out the "details" (in other words the barest bones) of his experiences the past night in proper military fashion.

"…and then she said "_Later boys. Always a pleasure_." and jumped off the edge of the tower. A few seconds later we on the tower observed her flying away on something long and wooden. The Animal prisoners were not recovered." Liir snapped his heels together and gave a curt nod, in the proper military G.F etiquette. The Wizard smiled fondly at him, clearly very proud.

"Permission to be excused sir?" he finished. The old man's face fell. Liir and his mother had both become so distant since the incident with that girl. With his _granddaughter_.

"Liir, where are you going?" The Wizard asked piteously.

"To my quarters and then to see my mother, Sir." The young man replied in very formal tone.

"Son! You finished your report; you don't have to be so formal with me!"

"No, I guess not. Sorry Grandpa."

"We never spend any time together anymore! Whadaya say we play a good ole' game of horseshoes?" he asked cheerfully. That had always been a favorite of Liir's when he was growing up. The Wizard was now somewhat desperate to reclaim some of Liir's affection. Over the last few years the boy had been drifting away from him and closer to his mother again— the old man wouldn't have minded so much except that Elphaba didn't spend much time with him either. He didn't want to go back to those days of loneliness, particularly after he'd had all those years of having an actual family of his own, no matter how dysfunctional.

"Maybe later grandpa, I have some things I need to do." The boy said gently.

"Oh, okay. See you later." His grandfather replied disappointedly. His grandson bowed slightly and then left.

888888888

When Liir opened the door to the Tower Room with a bowl of stomach-settling potion for his mother he found her _not_ in bed as she was supposed to be. Instead she was staring out the window with her back to him and the Grimmerie open in her lap.

"You should be resting." He chided her.

"So should you after last night." She countered, her forehead pressed against the cool glass as another wave of nausea passed through her.

"_I'm_ not the one making a rather foul-smelling acidic mess of my food in buckets every few minutes."

"Lurline save me, I have a son who has learned the art of quips." Elphaba groaned with a roll of her silver eyes. Her son smirked and made no comment on it. Instead he sat down at a chair directly behind her and moved to rest his feet on the desk,

"Feet off the table." Elphaba commanded without so much as glancing over her shoulder. Lirr rolled his eyes and put them down as his mother spoke again.

"So, how are your grandfather and Morrible handling this new 'situation', just out of curiosity?"

"Oh, they didn't say anything to be directly but between us, they think you did it." Liir informed her as he rested his hands casually behind his head and tipped the chair back on its leg. His mother shrugged.

"Of course they do. I only wish that I had." She said simply.

"I was kidding. Morrible's spitting mad that she can't saddle you with it. After all, you had the three most influential people in the capitol as witnesses to your temporary incapacitation."

This was true. Not only had Glinda, Morrible and the Wizard been present when she first started to vomit, but two of the three had seen the effects of attempting a simple spell to get her up to her tower room more quickly without the exhausting trip up the stairs. It had not produced a pleasant result. The Physician had actually had the gall to suggest that her books be removed from her room to prevent her from pushing herself too soon. This, clearly, had not happened. Nor would it in the foreseeable future. As in, _ever_.

Liir shook his head at the folly of some in the Emerald City. It had become clear over the last 3 years that the Emerald Vizier's days of submitting were nearing an end. She'd always been a powerhouse, of course, but now she was flexing her metaphorical wings once more. Just then one of the winged Monkeys flew into Liir's lap. He let it and even hugged the little Animal back. He'd gotten to know the Monkeys quite well in the last little while. In fact, he probably knew them better than anyone who wasn't his mother, though they still would only conduct conversations with her. They would remind people that they were (sort of) Animals by saying the odd word every now and again, but no one besides the Vizier ever got a complete sentence out of them.

"So," Elphaba croaked after a while "What are you here to tell me? That you left something out of your official report?" she inquired. One downside to their improved relationship was that Elphaba could now read her son like an open book. Liir let out an uncomfortable, humorless chuckle before disengaging the Monkey from his neck and setting her down. The little Animal gave an offended 'chirrup' and scuttled off. He took a few minutes to collect his thoughts and his mother waited patiently. He wondered for a moment whether or not he should tell her about Rhonaraye's little 'visit'. After all, it wasn't as if she had come for a social call; they hadn't seen her in person in three years apart from that one glimpse Liir had caught on the tower.

Still, the green woman waited and he decided he _would_ tell her and recounted (as he had done with the incident in the mine so long ago) all the details of his personal experience during the previous night. Elphaba listened quietly and attentively. Her son had come to learn ever since that Lurlinemas during his one year at the Academy that she could be quite a good listener. Also, nothing said between them would ever leave her Tower room unless he decided it would. She could keep a secret.

By the time he finished his recount Liir felt drained. Exhausted. The energy that his exuberance at having his twin briefly resurface in his life had afforded him was ebbing and sleepless nights were catching up with him. Elphaba noticed him start to wilt. She sighed and shook her head wearily.

"Liir, did you sleep at all last night, or did you just down a wakefulness potion this morning?" she asked him hoarsely, her throat still raw from vomiting so frequently over the course of the night. Her son shifted uncomfortably in his seat and would not meet her eyes. The green woman gave him a worried look and sighed. "_Again_ Liir?" she asked.

He still didn't reply.

"Liir, this is getting serious, I never should have taught you how to make those potions. You can't keep doing this, you _need_ to sleep."

"I don't want to sleep." Liir muttered rebelliously.

"This is one case where your health doesn't care what you want and neither does your mother." The green woman countered in a quiet but firm tone.

"You don't understand." Her son growled.

"Then _make me_, Liir." She demanded. For a moment the two stared each other down. Liir abandoned the staring contest partially out of guilt at how ill his mother looked and partially because the stare itself was so uncomfortable. This _wasn't_ something he could talk about with her. How was she supposed to understand the recurring dream he'd been having on and off since he went to the academy so long ago? It terrified him to the point where he would do anything to avoid sleeping, as she _did_ know. But it also scared him too much to talk about it.

The dream was always the same. He was running, running for all he was worth up an impossibly long spiraling stone staircase. He would feel a deep sense of dread, a frighteningly real knot of fear in his gut. Somehow he knew that if he didn't get there in time something terrible would happen. Finally a door would appear, but he wouldn't even manage to touch it before getting blown away.

/Dream-logic/; He'd be staring at a body but it was in shadow and blurred. He could never make out anything more than that it was a woman with long hair, no colour, no features, nothing. He would feel wet seep into his legs, touch the ground and bring his fingers up to his nose. Then his vision would fill with colour suddenly. One colour. Red. Blood.

Then he'd wake up.

No, he couldn't tell his mother. Not when he wasn't certain if it was a _dream_ dream born out of his subconscious or the _other_ kind of dream that he got sometimes. He didn't even want to think of that possibility. In the meantime, however, she was sick and needed rest. Liir managed to convince his mother to at least swallow some of the concoction he'd brought before leaving in the hopes that she might get some rest.

As he departed, both had the sense that they really should have divulged what they had not been sharing.

Once her son was gone Elphaba stood and went to the shelf by the window. She moved the Monkeys' blanket from its rack to reveal the old broom that had been left there last night. She was alone so she didn't have to hide it, not that Liir would have known what it meant anyway as she had never told him about the only in-person conversation she had ever had with her daughter. Should she have? Possibly. But it was the one moment private moment between mother and daughter, even if Rhonaraye had not known the significance of it at the time, and Elphaba cherished it.

She reached long, thin green fingers into chest pocket in the lining of her dressing gown and pulled out a folded piece of parchment from where it had rested against the pendant that Fiyero had given her all those years ago when they had first run away together, only the thin fabric dividing the paper from the precious keepsake. The ornate piece of jewelry still never left her neck.

The green woman lovingly opened up the folded note and smoothed it with her thumb, staring at the elegant, precise handwriting written in glittering green ink. This had been left tied to the handle of the broom when Elphaba had discovered it early that morning. She held the parchment to her heart a moment before reading its contents for the hundredth time;

_In case you ever decide to Defy Gravity again _

_

* * *

_

**Okay, question for you guys; would anyone like to see a scene briefly alluded to in which Chuffery attempts to to drag Glinda back and runs up against Elphaba? I've been tempted to write it in and if there is a desire to see it from my viewers than I can add it in there. **

**Review please.**

**Now, reviewers:**

**WickedWriterOfTheWest: **Do I get my virtual muffins? X) JK. Thanks for reviewing this chapter! More will be revealed about Candle's past, but in response to your question...well there are some things that are NOT changing from the original...

**Frifro : **I don't know what the computer has against your screen name! Grr. Anyway, I've left the dot out in the middle here in case that was it but I don't know what's going through its virtual mind. Oh Well. I still really appreciate you reviewing. Thanks!

**elphie T: **Me too. Its gonna be fun! And you're right, binding spell doesn't sound good at all. It will be coming up later, I'm glad people paid attention to that. Yeah, i brought in characters from the books. THe first time round this story had SO many OCs in it that, after re-reading son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men, realized were COMPLETELY unnecessary as their roles could be taken over by characters that were already there, hence a few more minor characters shoved out of M.C.H and fewer . We will be hearing from Candle and Raye again fairly soon.

**lizziemagic: **Well thank you! Don't worry, you will be finding out how much Raye knows about her family and when she found out, though by the note you can see that she knows Elphaba was the one to 'Defy Gravity' (The description Fiyercrow used about her mother when he passed the broom on to Raye).This time, especially since it is a re-write, I'm trying to tie things in better. For the next couple of chapters that I do I will even be re-reading what I've edited to try and make sure that I'm not going to forget about plot strands until the last second like I kind of did with parts of the last one. I'm glad to have you back by the way!

**Beautifully Tragic Girl:** Thanks! I hope enough were answered to make things clear, and enough unanswered to keep you interested ;). Do you think you have an answer for my question? I would love to hear your opinion!


	20. Part 2 Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Very sad.**

**So, here we have a completely new, freshly-written bonus chapter. Took a little longer than my last few updates have, but in my defense this one was completely from scratch. **

** By reviewer request (in response to my question last chapter)I have included a Chuffery-bashing! I'll be honest though, I don't really know if I'm happy with how this turned out...as in, I'm really uncertain about this one. I might go back and change parts of it, I don't know. Anyway, a lot of drama here. Hope you like it. **

**Please leave me a review.**

**Part 2 chapter 3**

Within two days Elphaba was back to her old self in full strength. They unanimously decided that she must have simply had food poisoning and outwardly decided to put the matter behind them. Instead, there were much bigger things on their minds.

The first thing to happen that morning was that one of the Vizier's Monkeys returned from a self-appointed scouting mission. The green woman had looked up from her book and frowned. She hadn't expected this Monkey back for a while. He was an adventurous one and usually stayed out for days at a time. She had a few other Monkeys out delivering and receiving messages, but this was not one of them.

"What have you got?" she asked it gently. He ambled over to the witch on the knuckles of one hand and presented her with what he had been carrying. Elphaba took the scrap and frowned. Then suddenly her eyes widened.

"Where did you get this?" she asked the winged Monkey.

"Road. Soldiers. Road Vinkus." The critter replied in his disjointed speech pattern.

"Did they see you?"

"No see. Careful. Night dark. Men sleep. Smell nasty. Nasty Drink bottles all over. Take from snoring man." The Monkey told her. Not one of the more eloquent members of the clan, but oh well. She dug her hand into a drawer and retrieved one of the treats they so enjoyed and held it between her forefinger and thumb.

"Listen to me. Glinda is not to know of this yet. Do you understand?" Elphaba said. Her Monkey nodded.

"Good boy and good job." She tossed him the treat. The young male caught it and retreated to the roost to enjoy his prize with relish. Upon hearing the sounds of someone with loud shoes on the stairs the green witch looked around the room frantically. Finally she stuffed the object into the same drawer from which she had gotten the Monkey-snack and sat back down at her desk, flipping her Grimmerie open to a random page.

"Oh Elphie!' Glinda trilled as she slipped in through the door with two large and coloourful bags.

"Oh no." Elphaba groaned, her fingers going to her temples while she tried to hide her face.

"Oh yes! Oh Elphie you have to see what I bought on my pre-trip shopping spree!"

"Since when do you need an excuse to go on a shopping spree?" Her green friend asked with a roll of her eyes.

"This is a tradition though! And I'm going to need some water-repelling coats! I hear the Vinkus road gets very wet." She rattled on, not noticing her friend stiffen at the mention of the Vinkus road.

"You're not going now." Elphaba said with a definitive shake of her head. Glinda froze mid-pose and gave her a startled frown. She blinked and let out a little laugh.

"Yes, Elphie. I am."

"No, you're not."

"Sweet Oz, Elphie! You're not my mother!"

"No, but I'm trying to protect you!"

"And that's just what _he_ said!" Glinda shrieked. Her green friend was visibly taken aback. There was a tense period of silence between the two of them. Finally Glinda crossed her arms and looked down at her pointy shoes.

"I'm just tired of everybody trying to control where I go and what I do. I got more than enough of that for a lifetime _there_." Elphaba looked down too

"I'm sorry." The Witch said.

"Me too." Glinda admitted before rushing over and seizing her friend in a remorseful hug. Elphaba characteristically flinched. "Oh Elphie! I really _am_ sorry! If it weren't for you I'd be dead! Or worse! I'd still be _there_."

The green witch nodded, remembering all too vividly how Glinda's ill-fated marriage had turned out…

/flashback/

_One night Elphaba had been awoken by a frantic pounding on her door and opened it to admit a hysterical Glinda riddled with injuries after weeks of no communication. The Green witch had taken her in, sat her down and gotten the gist of the story from her while tending the blonde's wounds. Elphaba had known Chuffery was no good, but Glinda had decided she wanted to marry him. Elphie had been all on her own in her opposition. Not even Liir had been any help. Chuffery was very good at turning on the charm when he wanted. _

_After the wedding Glinda had become increasingly distant. Her wardrobe started to tune down, a sure sign of trouble for the bubbly Witch. Her public appearances became fewer and her private audiences even (or rather especially) with her friends became even more rare. It had gotten to the point where Elphaba had not heard from her in over a week and was one day away from storming over to the house and demanding to see her best friend. The green woman had suspected (and been proven in her suspicions) that the swine had been hitting Glinda. It had apparently only gotten worse after their marriage and culminated in this particularly brutal attack. Glinda had somehow managed to escape and fled for her life, running to the only place she could think of; Elphaba. _

_The green woman had taken her in, tended her wounds and given her a potion to help her sleep. She had stayed with her all night, a comfort and a guard. _

_The following morning all hell broke loose when Chuffery started to bang on the door. _

"_Glinda, get out here! I know you're in there you ungrateful little wh—" _

_Elphaba silenced the imperious voice by hurling a bolt of green lightning at the door with a resounding boom. The door was completely unmarked but there was a yell of pain from the other side of the door and the fait aroma of scorched hair._

"_Get off my stairwell before I throw you down it!" The Green witch ordered as she positioned herself between her trembling, wide-eyed blonde friend and the door from within the locked room. _

"_I-I knew it…__" Glinda sobbed, her bandaged hand covering her cracked and swollen lip, the eye that was not closed shut bulging with terror. _

"_You're not going anywhere Glinda." Elphaba told her_

"_Elphie, you might not have a say…"_

"_Oh trust me." She said darkly "I'm going to have a say in this." _

"_Ah, Vizier." The smooth-talker was back. "You misunderstand. Glinda and I—" _

"_I'm counting to three and then you go out the window!" Elphaba snapped, looking at the closed door with venom. _

"_Now Vizier, please. She is my wife. I love her and I __**need**__ her." Chuffery said, trying to turn on the charm. Elphaba wasn't buying it._

"_One!" she yelled_

"_Alright, listen to me you little freak!" Chuffery snarled, abandoning all pretext of civility as his temper began to overtake him. It didn't really matter. Elphaba had never bough it anyway. "Glinda is my wife. She is MINE. And her rightful place—"_

"_TWO!" _

"—_is with her husband! The little whore isn't going to just abandon her womanly duties! So hand her over you little witch!" _

"_That's it! __**THREE**__!" The Vizier roared as she charged up to the door and threw it open with her powers at the same moment she sent a large crackling green ball of witch-fire at the man, sending him sprawling down the stairs. As a bonus it seemed that Morrible had been on her way up to get in on the action so she too was sent for a tumble. The downside to this upside was that she managed to magic the steps into a smooth ramp so that the fall down the spiraling stone staircase wouldn't kill them and they slid almost harmlessly to the floot of the spiraling stair. However, Elphaba was following them. It was just like that day so many years ago when Morrible had tried to take Nessa from her at Shiz. Only this time it was worse because Elphaba was in full control and she __**wanted**__ it to happen. Moreover she wanted it to __**hurt**__. _

"_I'm sorry, what did you call me again?" she asked Chuffery in a very good imitation of Morrible's revolting sweet tone. She let out a little simpering laugh. "Oh that's right. How silly of me." Her expression darkened, as did the room save for one green light directly above her, creating a very eerie effect "A __**witch**__. Well," she clapped her hands in a sarcastic, mocking way "Very good. It appears that while you may be a complete and utter blot on the face of the world your skills of observation might actually be salvageable—not so fast." _

_Morrible had been inching to her feet and had started moving her overly-lipsticked mouth in a spell. With one sweep of her __arm Elphaba sent the older woman sliding across the sleek emerald floors and into a closet. The door slammed shut in response to the sharp motion the green woman made, after which a line of bright blue fire surrounded the perimeter of the closet entrance, sealing it from the outside and trapping its occupant. Elphaba turned back to Chuffery, who seemed to have realized that he was no longer the one with the power._

"_Then again, you did just _threaten_ a Witch. And before _that _you committed much more serious crimes against a Witch."_

"_I did nothing to you—" he was cut off by a blast of magical energy slammed him into a wall._

"_I'm talking about Glinda you senile old creep." Elpaba snapped, advancing "Let me tell you something." She snapped her fingers and the sleeves of Chuffery's shirt dragged each of his wrists to the tapestry on the wall, the strands of the two fabrics fusing together so that he was forced to stand (ironically) at attention "Her being your wife does __**not**__ make her your property." The green witch made a slashing motion, tearing the tapestry down and wrapping it around its prisoner so that only his head and feet were visible._

"_It does __**not**__ make her your slave." The bundle lifted into the air and slammed into the wall_

"_And it certainly does __**not**__ make her your punching bag! I saw your handiwork. I know what you've been doing to her." _

_Elphaba was now a mere foot away from Chuffery. The old man was wide-eyed and shaking. _

"_Not so brave when you aren't armed with a poker and holding the keys to the door, are you?" The green woman hissed. She had only been so tempted to murder once, though she had never actually killed anyone before. (Well, she __**might**__ have when she drove back the Goblin army all those years ago. Maybe. The thought was not a pleasant one. But never face to face even though she had come across different incantations that would produce such a result.)_

_There was first time for everything._

"_Elphie stop!" shrieked a voice from the stairwell. Elphaba froze mid motion and mid-word and turned. Glinda was making her way awkwardly down the slippery ramp that had replaced the stairs, her wounds aggravating her by the look on her face._

"_Finally, you come to your senses." Chuffery spat disdainfully. _

"_Elphaba, don't kill him." Glinda implored_

"_You can't be serious." The green woman hissed through clenched teeth as she looked the man up and down with repulsion. _

"_Elphaba please! Don't let him turn you into a killer! He's not worth it." Glinda begged. The green woman ground her teeth and then made a fist, tightening the tapestry around Chuffery's neck just enough to make a point and lifting him into the air. _

"_Now you listen and listen well." She growled at him "You're __**lucky**__ she was here. Now you said you hadn't done anything to harm me. Well you're wrong. You see her?" She snapped her fingers again. It was as though an invisible, strong set of fingers seized his chin and forced him to look at his wife before jerking his head back to the Vizier. _

"_That is Glinda the Good. She is the Godmother of __**my**__ son and for reasons that I don't always understand, my best friend. She is the only sister I have left. You hurt her, you hurt me. And so you __**have**__ harmed me." With another snap of her fingers Chuffery fell to the floor with a thud. Elphaba started walking down the hall, the tapestry imprisoning Glinda's husband dragging him along roughly. The staff and, quite frankly, anyone else in the halls leapt out of her way. Chuffery struggled against his interesting bonds as the green woman continued talking,_

"_Now let's __get one thing straight. Consider yourself to __officially__ be my enemy. That means if you come near me or mine again I will not hesitate to use any and every curse on you that is in my arsenal, and I don't mind telling you that that is a __**lot**__ of curses. You touch Glinda again and you won't ever touch anything else, are we quite clear?" she emphasized this last point by suddenly righting him so that they were at eye level. By now she had dragged him around corners and right to the front door. Chuffery gulped and clenched his teeth. The only thing he could match Elphaba in at that instance was the level of sheer hate in his eyes._

"_I __**said**__; _are we quite clear_?" the green woman repeated._

"_Crystal." The old man spat. The Vizier's silver eyes narrowed further and she pointed to the large doors. They opened for her obediently._

"_Good." Elphaba hissed. She made a whipping motion with her arm and the tapestry snapped out from around Chuffery, hurling him out the door and unceremoniously down the steps. He landed in a disheveled heap and whipped his head around to look at the door with indignant rage. He glanced around the tall, slender green woman to see the outline of his wife huddled just behind the door. He looked at her darkly, willing her to know that she would always be his. Some kind of message seemed to get through, for she gasped and stood there, wide-eyed with terror and rooted to the spot by it. _

_By this point they had attracted a small crowd. It was mostly laborers and Animals due to the early hour, but they were nevertheless halted by the spectacle. _

_Elphaba took a few steps out onto the top stone step. She managed to look imposing even in a dressing gown with her black hair in a thick, disheveled rope draped over her shoulder. She glared down at the "Lord", an impenetrable, unforgiving, iron-willed guard standing between him and Glinda. The Vizier stared him down even as he got to his feet, jerking off the help of his servant who came to assist him to his feet. He looked back on his way to his carriage. The Green woman crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow in a manner that dared him to challenge her._

"_THIS ISN'T OVER!" He yelled. Pointing threateningly at Glinda he shrieked "YOU ARE __**MINE**__!" _

_The dimly-lit streetlamps nearby exploded in response to Elphaba's rage as she uncrossed her arms, lunged a half-step towards him and pointed a long finger at the road._

"_**OUT**__!" She roared. Chuffery didn't hesitate this time. He displayed surprising agility for his age by leaping into the carriage and thumping on it frantically for the driver to cruelly lash the horses into a gallop. He departed full speed down the road, without his battered bride. _

_Elphaba's nostrils flared as she watched him go, trembling with rage. After a few minutes she whipped around and then stopped when she saw Glinda. _

_Elphaba walked back inside and awkwardly put an arm around her. The blonde seized her around the waist as though for dear life and sobbed. Elphaba rubbed her shoulder comfortingly as they made their way through the halls back towards the workroom with the blonde clinging to her friend. Liir (who had seen the latter half of the scene) came up to them when they reached the foot of the stairs (which had righted themselves back into proper stairs) to her tower room. She shook her head to silently communicate "not now' to him. He nodded and stepped out of their path. _

_Elphaba didn't release Morrible from the cupboard until evening, just to make sure that the press secretary got the message. _

_/end of flashback/_

"Elphie, I'm just going on a trip. I do it every year."

"Glinda, don't take that road." Her green friend insisted

"We just had this conversation!" The Blonde growled, her temper rising "Don't make me compare you to _him_ again!"

"It's _him_ that I'm worried about!" Elphaba finally snapped as she thrust open the drawer and tossed the blonde the scrap of cloth that the Monkey had brought her. Glinda scrambled a little but caught the fabric and slowly turned it over. Her blood ran cold. It was the Chuffery coat of arms.

"One of the Monkeys found a group of men wearing that insignia on the Vinkus road." Elphaba told her. Glinda nodded, still very pale. However, she seemed to collect herself as she slowly walked around the room, her skirts swishing slightly with her movement.

Glinda's wardrobe had toned down severely after her marriage. Indeed, after she had first fled to Elphaba for sanctuary, she had dressed more like the green woman than anything; high-necked, long-sleeved dark dresses and robes. She had worn no make-up and merely pulled her hair back into an austere bun. In honesty she had eventually come to look like a blonde version of Nessa. Over the last two years or so it had gotten to be a little closer to her original flamboyant style, particularly after she resumed her public duties. The sparkles and excessive glitter were still missing, though she had started with the more elaborate ball-gowns again.

The blonde made her way over to the fire and cast the patch into it.

"I'm done letting him rule my life. I've escaped his house, I've had the marriage dissolved and I will not let him keep any hold over me. Even fear. He isn't going to control me any more." She stated. Elphaba felt a swell of pride for her friend.

"Good for you." She said as she came up behind the blonde and patted her shoulder supportively before heading over to the bookshelves to replace the volume she had been leafing through. Glinda watched the flames eat at the insignia for a minute or two more before speaking again.

"Besides, I won't even be with strangers. Liir is coming with me."

There was a dull thud as the book was shoved roughly into place by a green hand.

"Oh no." Elphaba said, whipping around. "No. Glinda, no. I might not be your mother but I certainly am his. _Something_ is going to happen on this trip, I can feel it. I can't order you not to go if you are determined to, but Liir is altogether a different matter!"

"For Oz's sakes Elphaba! He's 19 years old!" Glinda protested in exasperation.

"Yes. That means there are still parts of Oz where he's not allowed to drink!" Elphaba retorted

"Elphie, this is so unlike you! You usually treat Liir more like an adult than this."

"I don't care. He is my son and I am telling you that this trip is not going to go as planned, I can just feel it."

"Elphaba, now really. Stop it. You just don't want him to go to the Vinkus." The Blonde snapped.

"That's not true." The green woman protested quietly.

"Yes, it is. I've stayed silent on this matter for far too long. You never took him there, you haven't even gone yourself since he was born and you've never told him anything about his father. Sweet Oz, did you ever even tell the King and Queen that they had a grandson?"

Elphaba remained silent and turned away, her fingertips touching her breastplate at the spot where Fiyero's pendant lay beneath the material of her dress as she walked towards the window. Her silence was her answer. Glinda crossed her arms and shook her head.

"That's what I thought. They lost their _son_, Elphaba. They lost Fiyero and his brother abandoned them. Now they are getting old and have no direct heir. I faced my demons, Elphie. Forgive me if I'm tired of you sulking about yours. You're not the only one who lost someone she loved that day, but you were the one who lost someone that loved you back." The Witch of the North finished her lecture and started clicking her way towards the door. She had just pulled the large wooden thing open when her friend's voice stopped her.

"Do you hate me?" the green woman asked.

"Oh don't be so melodramatic!" Glinda snapped. "Of course not."

"Why?" Elphaba asked simply. Glinda rolled her eyes in frustrated annoyance at the overly ambiguous question.

"_Why_?" the blonde repeated the question as though she didn't understand the relevance or the point to it (which she didn't) as she made a big show of turning back around.

"Just…why. Why did you look after me 19 years ago? Why did you bring Liir back to me? Why did you love him like he was your own when he _should_ have been all along? Why did you always watch out for me when I got myself drunk on Liir's birthday? Why _don't_ you hate me? You should. You did. I ran off with your fiancée. I had his children. I got him killed. There have been those who have committed murder for less. You should hate my guts. Why don't you? " Elphaba asked, voicing all the questions that had been burning within her for nearly two decades.

Glinda met her friend's silver gaze and sighed, closing the door again. The green woman was perching on the windowsill, one of her favourite spots.

"I _did_ hate you." The blonde admitted. "Right afterwards. I did. But then…after Nessa…" she still wasn't quite able to confess her greatest sin yet and redirected her point "I realized that you needed him more than I did. I mean, had anyone loved you before? Really loved you, without expecting anything in return since your mother died?"

For the second time, Elphaba's silence spoke for her.

"I didn't think so. And he _did_ love _you_. And I did hate you both for a long time for that. I felt betrayed but…I wasn't entirely innocent myself and I came to realize that you hadn't meant to hurt me and neither of you deserved what you got by any stretch of the imagination. Does that answer your question?" the blonde finished

The green woman nodded, at a rare teary-eyed moment with the impact of her friend's forgiveness.

"Now, I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

"Please be careful. I'll come see you off then, though I intend to talk Liir out of it if possible." Elphaba told Glinda stubbornly as the blonde again opened the door. Both of them knew that Elphaba's black-haired son would go with his godmother, especially if he thought she might need the protection. He wasn't quite as staunch a protector over Glinda as his mother was, but since the incident with Chuffery he was pretty protective of her as well. The blonde smiled at her emerald-skinned friend then suddenly perked in recollection.

"Oh! Don't forget, there's that prisoner in South Stairs who keeps requesting to see you."

"Prisoner?" Elphaba repeated with a slight frown.

"Yes. The strange one that keeps going on about you. Your father keeps asking if you will go and see what he's on about. I'll see you later." Glinda said as she closed the door behind her.

For a while the (former) Witch of the West sat there in silence. Chistery ambled arthritically over to her for some attention and to provide a little comfort Elphaba supposed. After allowing a few minutes for the conversation with Glinda and ramifications thereof she stood and went to a secret place in the wall. With a word of magic one of the stones became loose. She removed it carefully and reached a hand in to extract the old broom from its hiding place. She ran her fingers over the handle, feeling it thrum excitedly in her hands. She then reached in to extract the polished wooden box in which she kept some of the coded messages she been receiving in that elegant handwriting at irregular intervals over the couple of years. Most of them she destroyed upon reading of course, as was the cautionary protocol. However, some were more personal and intended as such. Those she kept.

Almost as though on queue the Monkey she had been expecting when the young male had flown in with the insignia opened the window and let herself in.

"Miss!" She gasped, her breath racing from exertion. This was Elphaba's prized student. Of all the winged Monkeys this young female had the most extensive vocabulary and displayed considerable intelligence. The Monkey hopped over to the green woman and handed her the paper she had hidden on herself.

"I was wondering when you'd get back." Elphaba muttered, though her fond pat of the creature's head contradicted her irritated tone. She took the message and opened the parchment before hissing a single word and passing the palm of her hand over the piece of paper. Her heart, as always, leapt at that handwriting, seizing on the tiny connection and treasuring it. However, after she read the message she frowned slightly.

_In spite of_ _my best efforts to the contrary, an important prisoner has been captured. He will be desperate for an audience. _

_Please, see him._

As usual the message was carefully worded so that there was nothing overly incriminating in the note, at least, nothing that would stand up in a trial if the message were intercepted by someone who could decipher the revealing spell required. The author was careful with Elphaba's security, almost as much as the Green witch would be herself if the positions were reversed.

So. There was an important prisoner wishing to see her. She rarely granted audiences to anyone. But perhaps in this case she would. In the back of her mind she wondered who it was as she used a nearby candle to light the parchment and walk over to the fireplace, watching the paper blacken and curl. This wasn't a message that she should or really could keep, not if she was clever anyway. So the green witch was thorough. She didn't drop it into the fireplace until it risked singing her fingers, ensuring that there was no scrap to be recovered.

Who was this prisoner? Moreover, why was he so important?

Only one way to find out.

* * *

**Review please**

**FirFro : **Hurrah! We have conquered the computers! I hope you liked the confrontation. No mother-son moments here, but plenty of Glinda/Elphaba interaction.

**SunRise19: **Why thank you! Don't worry, I won't be simply dropping the matter of Elphaba's illness. it will be explained in due time. Did you like the scene I put in for you guys?

**bremela: **Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too ;)

**lizziemagic: **No worries, I got it twice, that's okay. I still love your reviews! I didn't include a wedding scene, no. Sorry. But I figured this would probably suffice in the Chuffery bashing, at least for now (That's right. There might be more later!) Thanks again for those nominations! I am so honored, thank you!

**Beautifully Tragic Girl: **No worries. Thanks for your review! I love getting feedback! Hope this chapter was enjoyable for you as well!


	21. Part 2 Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Very sad.**

** Well, another full week-long wait, but here is another entirely new from-scratch extra chapter to the rewrite. It didn't start out that way, I initially just planned on adding the scene with Raye in to tie the whole circumstances surrounding Liir's coma a little better then the first time around _(*remembers*, yeah, that was kinda shameful...better this time I think_), but then it got longer and then it just didn't mesh well within the same chapter as Liir coming round, and the scene a few of you have been waiting for was a bit too long so I threw in another bonus Glinda scene to provide a better meshing and chapter finish. Considering the positive response to the last "bonus chapter" I didn't think you guys would mind. Stuff from here (as always) comes up again later too.**

** Also here, WARNING, there is some maturish themes ahead! (torture). WARNING! Remember that this story has been bumped up to T! Am I overreacting here? Probably, there isn't anything graphic, but you have BEEN TOLD.**

**Read and Review please.**

**Part 2 ch 4**

The thunder continued to boom outside the little cottage all through the night and into the morning in a powerfully long-winded storm. A young woman sat huddled over in a chair by the fireplace, her feet tucked up underneath her and her cloak replaced by a thick blanket which she clutched around her as she stared unseeingly into the dying flames. Someone, she thought it might have been one of Akota's assistants, had managed to drag her up from the floor and into her current seat in front of the fireplace in addition to throwing the blanket around her shoulders. Neither hair nor clothes were dripping anymore after her hours in front of the warm fire (a luxury absent from her childhood that she had never managed to get used to as an adult) and were now merely damp. Her long red tresses were a dread-locked with tangles and hanging over her face. She had long ceased sobbing, having spent the energy to maintain it.

Killyjoy had curled up closer to the fire than his mistress, allowing the heat to warm him and dry his shaggy fur to the point where it was so fluffy it practically poofed. The large wolf-like dog voiced his feelings on the continuing distress of his mistress by letting out a high-pitched whine when the door leading to the operating room opened quietly. The redhead didn't even respond.

Two large Bears stood in the doorway. One was wearing a newly reddened surgical apron over his pajamas with his sleeves rolled up past the elbow and a white mask hanging around his neck. The other had a towel around her shoulders and smelled of wet fur, her paws stained a slightly darker shade of brown from partially-cleaned mud. She had just come in from the storm through the back door. The female Bear took one look at the human and canine and sighed.

"Thank you for coming." Doctor Akota said.

"Thank you for calling me." Ralimla replied.

"Well, I think your cub needs you." The male Bear said. In the background the mysterious notes of a domingan wafted through gently as its owner began to play the instrument. To Ralimla it was of little consequence at that particular moment as she ambled over to her 'cub.' Killyjoy looked up, panted happily and thumped his tail on the carpet twice to display his approval of the Bear's arrival.

"Hey there, Honey." Ralimla said quietly as she pulled a chair up in front of Rhonaraye's. The redhead continued to stare at the flames and pulled the blanket a little tighter around her shoulders, the light cast by the fire reflecting off the tear tracks down her cheeks. Every once in a while she flinched at some strange twang of pain. As she shifted the warm light also fell upon the deep scar that ran along her cheekbone. Ralimla would never, _ever_ get used to seeing that.

"I heard about your patient. I passed him on my way here." The Bear told her. Rhonaraye sniffed and wiped at the dampness on her cheeks.

"That was Liir, wasn't it?" Ralmila asked gently. Raye sniffed again and nodded.

"How did you know?" she asked hoarsely.

"I heard about what happened when they brought you in. When I came over, you didn't ask me how he was doing because you already knew. Oh _cub_…" the Bear said as she reached over and wiped the girl's other cheek gently. "What happened?"

Raye's silver eyes searched the Bear's big brown ones before looking back at the fire reliving the experience in her mind even as she recounted it…

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…Rhonaraye was flying through the air on her staff with Killyjoy strapped to her back, one of the mutt's rather large paws on one shoulder and his larger head resting on the other as the wind blew through his fur. He loved flying almost as much as she did. The dog was heavy, but she didn't mind. She was strong and besides, he was a walking, barking space heater in colder weather. At the moment the extra weight was also a bit of a bonus for managing the strong and notoriously treacherous winds she was riding now. It took skill and concentration from even the best of flyers to be able to navigate this passage of air. She could and often did, but even for her it required concentration during this season. A storm building added an additional level of difficulty to the equation as well.

Raye had just entered the airspace over the Thousand Year Grasslands when a sharp shock of pain tore through her side. She cried out and clutched at her rips, sending the flight out of control for a moment. Killyjoy barked in distress and she quickly righted them. She tried to shake off the troubling experience when suddenly, a few scant minutes later, it happened again. For a second time she was briefly distracted from her flying, something she couldn't afford to do in these conditions. Finally, after a third repeat of this, the Mage opted for an emergency landing. She tumbled into the tall grasses with a painful thud, feeling Killyjoy's weight disappear as the dog leapt from her back to safety.

Rhonaraye had barely scrambled back up to her hands and knees when she cried out again and her hand flew to her side. Her eyes widened and lost their focus a moment as a very different scene from the one laid before her filled her vision.

_She was on a darkened road. Trees surrounded a small clearing, their canopy of leaves blocking all but a few stubborn streams of light from the setting sun. Well that, and the circle of rather large men surrounding her. The sword that had been buckled to her belt was lying beyond her captors and her reach, the markings seeming to almost glow, though her attention was quickly drawn to the face of the apparent leader of the ones who had attacked them. Her vision was fuzzy, and the features were blurred. She tossed her head to try and get some of the sticky warm moistness out of her eyes. She saw red. But it wasn't her hair. Her hair was black and short, and she was not wearing a dark dress and cloak, but some kind of uniform…_

"Lirr…" she choked.

_ There was some shrieking in the background_

_ "No! No, please! Stop! Let him go! I'll do anything, please stop!" The familiar voice shrilled as Glinda thrashed against the thug who held her hands behind her back. _

_ "Oh, shut her up already." A new voice growled. There was a smacking sound, a little shriek and then just a little whimper. _

_ "Look my pretty," the gruff voice growled we're getting a big bounty for you from your dear hubby, but it's not necessary for us to return you without a scratch."_

_ "Then take me and let the boy go! He doesn't have anything to do with this!" Glinda begged. _

_ "You think this is our only contract blondie?" A new scratchy voice enquired. "We want information for another client and we already killed the other Gale Force officers. This one seems to be a better fighter. Got some magic in you then, eh? Well, that's not going to help you now." _

_ "Wait! I'm Glinda the Good! I would know more than him! Don't hurt him!" Glinda wailed. Their attackers scoffed_

_ "Please. How dumb do you think we are? We want real stuff."_

_ "I won't tell you anything." Liir/Raye growled as s/he struggled to no avail against the two holding him/her down. _

_ "Oh I think you will." Said the first talker as he turned his back on his captive. There was a sizzling sound and when he turned around he was brandishing an object that struck Liir merely with confusion but made the other person watching through his eyes freeze. She knew exactly what that strange-looking thing was for…_

A few seconds later a howl of agony tore from her lips and started to writhe, the sound of her screams carrying far across the plains. Killyjoy wouldn't be surprised if the Vinkus royalty heard it in their palace. The dog barked and whined and growled, trying to figure out what was going on. After a few minutes the redhead went limp and lay there, catching her breath.

"Liir…" she breathed with a wince. She let out another little sound as her brother's situation again flared into her mind.

"_Well, well, well. What have we here?" a smooth male voice inquired. This voice was one that Liir felt he might know, but couldn't place it. Well, why should he? He'd only heard it in dreams. His sister on the other hand, knew it all to well. She recognized even the outline of the tall man wearing robes of a hard, unyielding grey approaching Liir/Raye in a slow, confident stroll. _

_ "And who…are you supposed…unnh…to be?" Liir/Raye coughed. _

_ "Well. A strong one. Shame. Makes the whole thing longer and far more painful for you my friend." The newcomer said with a sigh_

_ "I'm no 'friend' of yours." _

_ The newcomer suddenly moved in closer so that his features were more visible to Liir's blurring vision. What might otherwise have been rather handsome features were drawn and pale like harshly carved stone. Eyes that were a startling, almost unnaturally golden colour bored into Liir/Raye's. They narrowed upon sensing something, or rather, the traces of some**one**. _

Rhonaraye didn't stick around at that point. Using all her willpower and exerting every iota of her mental control she shoved her brother out of her mind, knowing that it would backlash on him as his grounding point wrenched away to leave him to face the pain all on his own, even if he was unaware that he had been sharing it. She also knew that she had no choice, not if she was going to help him. Her eyes snapped open and she tightened her grip on the long wooden staff in her hand, leaping to her feet.

"Killyjoy!" she beckoned. The dog barked in reply and lunged over to her just in time to slip under her long cloak as she flared it around herself and her best friend. Even with her block against Liir at full force she still felt his sheer agony and quickly extended her mental shield to cover his mind too. They hadn't managed to break that the last time, she'd see how that-that…that _mage_ reacted to encountering it again.

Raye rematerialized with a swirl of cloak in the middle of the clearing. Her arrival only hastened the whopper of a storm that the area was due. In a rather handy coincidence a flash of lightning broke through the spaces between the leaves and illuminated the clearing just enough to give the young woman an eerie, intimidating entrance. The mage flared her cape in front of her a couple of times to send the smoke that had accompanied her out and into the eyes of those she was about to fight, the flashes of light really giving her a frightening appearance and adding to the illusion that she was many places at once as she and Killyjoy made their attack on those imprisoning Glinda and Liir. They had to be careful not to trip over the fresh corpses that consisted of the rest of Glinda's security retinue.

Rhonaraye's staff was a rather deadly weapon in more senses then one. There were grunts and thwacking sounds as the polished wood made contact with rib cages, kneecaps and faces. The mage was a swirl of black and red, occasionally throwing up additional magical shields against the more arcane blasts sent her way. Killyjoy was also, as usual, very good in a fight. There was some screaming in the background which eventually became quite muffled. Rhonaraye's head whipped around in the direction she had been hearing it come from when it stopped when suddenly she was forced to throw up a glowing blue shield.

She had barely fended off the magical attack when her staff clashed against another at the exact moment that a bolt of lightning crashed over head. The rain had already started to fall. For a moment everyone stilled. Killyjoy even paused halfway through mauling a bounty hunter's arm as they all stared at the pair in the middle.

Iron-robed man and Rhonaraye stood with their staffs crossed, staring at each other. Bright silver eyes met and held gleaming gold, powerful wood struck unyielding metal. The redhead looked the grey-robed man up and down with a slightly disbelieving look, taking particular offense to his new iron-wrought staff. Her expression quickly hardened.

"Let him go." She ordered.

"Nari," The man in grey greeted

"Don't call me that." She snapped. It was the other mage's turn for his expression to harden at this rebuke as she repeated her demand "_Let him go_."

The man in grey seethed a moment, evaporating the rain that trickled through the canopy to land on his shoulders with a sizzle as the two of them started to circle each other, their crossed staffs still crossed and creating an immobile, invisible center point to the circle they were quite literally burning into the ground beneath them.

"I don't think so, Rhonaraye, or do you have a problem with that name too?" he jibed.

"From _you_, yes. I'll take the title in this case. _Just_ for you." The redhead retorted acidly, her eyes narrowing "You heard me the first two times, don't make me insult your intelligence by repeating myself a third time."

"You know, I'm not really inclined to do that at the moment."

"Then _get _inclined!" Raye snarled as she attacked. A scant breath later they were both shooting into the air, right up into the storm clouds, each holding their staff with one hand as a partial means of keeping aloft. Around them lightning crackled. For miles around those storm-watching would be able to see a strange sort of shadow-puppet show in the brief claps of near-blinding illumination. It was quite a show too as the pair fought tooth and nail.

On the ground, the Bounty Hunters suddenly realized that they were down a prisoner. In the kafuffle with the dog and the witch the one who had been restraining her appeared to have had his head bashed in and the blonde was no where in sight. They rounded on their remaining prisoner, who was by this point barely recognizable from when they had begun with him. The witch's watchdog was briefly an obstacle, but this time one of the brutes got lucky and managed to throw a crate from Glinda's caravan on top of him before diving on top of it, his weight keeping the newly created prison in place. A second bounty hunter joined the first one in his seat. Quite frankly, they were afraid of the beast. A third member of their party (the one who had been holding the Witch of the North Prisoner) was bleeding into the grass and the others sported bite and claw wounds in addition to the ones that the dog's mistress had given them.

The apparent leader limped over to Liir and picked up an already-bloodied instrument. The dark-haired young man wheezed out something like a whimper as he scrambled madly for something to defend himself with. It was useless of course, even as he writhed, growling something about 'not abandoning him' or something.

Something very strange happened then though. As the kid's hoarse screams tore through the air they melded with much stronger ones from above. Everything then changed in the blink of an eye with one screaming cry rebounding everywhere loudly enough to briefly eclipse the ever-escalating storm.

_NOOOOOO!_

One second Liir was writhing and trying feebly out of sheer self-preservation to block the attack or fight his attacker off, who was wide-eyed with a sadistically crazed look on his face, and the next each of the bounty-hunters was blasted off their feet and off the crate imprisoning the incensed Killyjoy who leapt to freedom with a growl. They each hit the ground hard, and out cold.

Raye half-hurtled to the ground and threw herself over to the bloodied form of their victim. She dropped her staff as she seized him in her arms and held him to her tightly, barely paying attention to the fact that her enemy had landed again as well.

"Nari?" Liir croaked faintly.

"Yes! Yes, it's me. Stay with me now, stay awake."

The other mage felt his blood run cold at this. He looked murderous upon seeing the redhead cradling this strange man so desperately and started to charge towards them until he was halted by her words.

"Lurline _Liir_, no! Oh Lurline, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to shove you out like that! No, no, no! Please, Liir, I'm sorry! You can't do this!" She whimpered as she pushed some of the blood-matted dark hair out of the pulped face. Liir was fading, beginning to fall away, she could feel it in their bond, and she couldn't bear it!

"Liir?" the grey-robed mage repeated incredulously, dumbstruck. The redhead didn't even acknowledge him or the fact that one of the more resilient mercenaries was getting to his feet.

"No!" he yelled, putting up a shield between the hired thugs and the pair on the ground.

"I'm here, now. I'm not going anywhere, just listen to my voice…I'm sorry! I wanted to stop it; I didn't want you to face it alone! Please Liir, you have to believe me!" Raye murmured to him desperately.

"That's your _brother_?" The other mage exclaimed, a look of shocked, somewhat horror-struck look on his face. The rain was now pelting down on them. The mages had pretty much totaled the canopy with their fight. Raye stilled at those words and looked up at him slowly with such incredible _hate_. He rushed forward imploringly "No, no Nari! I didn't know! I swear!"

"Get away from him!" Rhonaraye shrieked, sending a blast of pure, raw magical energy at him and sending him flying. She looked back at her brother and took his hand in her own and hissed in determination "I will _not_ lose you too!" Their hands glowed where they touched as she poured some of her own power into their connection, using both to tether her brother to life, at least for the meantime. Using all of her willpower to ignore the pain that was rebounding onto her from Liir, Raye slung his arm over her shoulder and somehow managed to haul herself and him up to her feet, leaning heavily on her staff.

Killyjoy knew the signs and dove to her side so that she could vanish them all with a puff of quickly dissipated smoke…

8888888

"I closed him off. I didn't want to feel that pain…again. Instead I got something so much worse. I can't…Ralimla if he dies a part of me is going to die too! I know that everyone says that but I-I just…I…" she finished, unable to articulate her terror at the prospect, nor her guilt over her (perceived) role in Liir's condition.

"It's alright to cry, Honey." Ralimla told her gently, as she had told her so many times over the course of her later childhood and adolescence, as all three of her guardians had tried to tell her. Raye shook her head wearily, her tears having been cried out.

"No…" she murmured tiredly.

"It's okay to sleep too." The Bear said. Again she shook her head.

"I _can't_ sleep until I know." The redhead replied. "He was in so much pain that he retreated into himself. I held on to him, I used my powers so he didn't _go_ completely but I don't know the way back, I can't show him he's just lost now." She rested one hand against her head as she rambled, unable to make Ralimla understand. She noted this and sighed.

"It's my fault." She said.

"Now that's ridiculous—"

"You don't understand. He went looking for _me_. That was _why_ he wanted to go with Glinda! He wanted to look for _me_! I saw it in his mind before…before…" a second time she was unable to finish. Only with one of her three Guardians (or maybe Liir) would she ever have allowed her guard down this much over a prolonged conversation. It was unlikely that anyone else would have gotten anything more than the bare bones of what had happened either for that matter.

"What about Glinda then?" The Bear inquired, deciding to steer the conversation away from her ward's brother subtly. A distant look crossed the redhead's expression as she thought back to the clearing when she had glanced over her shoulder towards the spot Glinda had been…

_What at first sight appeared to be a moving shadow had a hand clamped over the terrified blonde's mouth, muffling her screams so that they might make an unnoticed getaway. The shadow looked up at Rhonaraye with familiar hazel eyes and nodded once as he backed Glinda up, a bolt of lightning briefly illuminating tanned skin with tribal markings and a single, pale blue diamond in the middle of his forehead. _

"She's fine." Rhonaraye said finally with a touch of dismissal to her tone.

"_Fine_?" Ralimla pressed, unwilling to let this go.

"Ijiri showed up. He took her. She'll be fine. He's competent and he won't hurt her." The Red head told the Bear succinctly as she looked down at her right hand, the hand which now bore a scar in the place where the pinky finger had once been. The equivalent of an eyebrow rose on the Bear's face at that almost-compliment to the young woman's uncle. She didn't press that point, not right now anyway. This was not the time for an argument, not by a long shot. With a great sigh Ralimla stood and walked over to her ward. Rhonaraye looked up at her slowly and the Bear knelt down and pulled the young woman into a hug.

Raye stiffened at first, but not for long. Quickly the young mage practically leaned forward off her chair and practically dissolved into the embrace, clinging to her Guardian and held on in a way that she had not done in a long time. They sat on the floor with the redhead pretty much in Ralimla's lap, just like she used to sit when she was cold on a winter night as a child or sometimes when she had been frightened or hurt (The others had shared in the latter two, but the Bear had held the monopoly on the first with her warm fur). Here, here she was warm, and safe and loved. Here, nothing could ever harm her. They stayed like that for a while, Ralimla rocking her gently and brushed her hair back from her face.

After a while Rhonaraye let out a sigh and practically went limp with relief in her Guardian's comforting hug.

"It's working." She breathed, letting out a short little laugh of relief, "Thank Lurline, it's _working_." Ralimla didn't ask what was working, but in the background the sounds of a Domingan still wafted through the air, more confidently now than an hour or so ago.

At that moment someone else opened the door and a white Tigress loped gracefully into the room.

"Ralimla I—oh. Appologies." Muhlama said sheepishly when she saw that she had clearly been interrupting a moment that she probably was not supposed to be privy to.

Raye sniffed and pulled away from her furry guardian, much to the latter's reluctance. The Bear sighed.

"What is it, Muhlama?" she asked wearily. She had just managed to reach the Mage…But the Tigress was already delivering her message, her long tail twitching in agitation.

"There is trouble in Quox. A siege or something of some kind, we don't know everything, some of ours are trapped in it too. My father managed to send a message to us, we must help him! It's at least a three day journey even with the aid of a portal—"

"Stay here and rest up." Rhonaraye interrupted as she got to her feet. The dog saw this movement and leapt to his feet. He, unlike his human, had been able to take at least brief naps and was picking up on the tense energy, getting wired. Killyjoy knew what was coming next.

"I'll go. I can get there in a fraction of that time." The redhead told them.

"Rhonaraye…" Ralimla started

"I have to leave." The redhead cut her off shortly, visibly collecting herself and putting back up her 'walls' against the world while shrugging the blanket off her shoulders and folded it neatly before picking up her cloak from where it had been drying by the fire.

"And what about Liir?"

"He needs that talent to bring him back to the present. He needs Candle."

"And you."

"I'm the last thing he needs." She snapped "I attract trouble. Specifically my own dangerous and supposedly "unique" brand of trouble, I believe you've met him. Tall, golden eyes, recently become strangely pale? I'll go to Quox. I'll get Muhlama's father and whoever else out and draw his attention away from here along with anyone else who has it in for you and for Liir."

"Do you not wish to rest?" Muhlama enquired as the young woman strode past her to take the staff leaning against the wall in her hands again, Killyjoy trotting up behind her.

"I'll manage."

"This is dangerous." The Bear stated. "You are _exhausted_! Not to mention the shock and trauma of—"

"Look!" Raye snapped, whirling around to face them "I can't stop. You really think _he's_ going to stop? Even if I'm no longer the secret weapon I can still do damage control!"

"I never said it was the other Mage—" The Tigress began

"I don't care! He's behind it somehow! He's _always_ behind it, it's what he _does_." She cried with venom not directed at them, at least not entirely. "And even if its not, I can still make myself useful and have a very satisfying time blowing a few things up. Now, if you'll excuse me—" she cut herself off as an orderly opened the door to the room where the music was coming from. She froze and stared at the form that was swallowed by blankets and bandages, barely even noticing the Quadling whose back was to her. The sound of a heart beat, or rather two heartbeats, both strong but one struggling filled her ears as her vision tunneled on what was visible of the pulped face. She felt the tug on the golden rope that existed in her mind too and began to hear the music as he did. Then the Mage remembered how he had come to be there and shied from it.

"I have to go." She whispered as she fled.

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Glinda groaned and winced as she opened her eyes. The Good Witch of the North was lying on the floor of a cave, covered with a rather warm, thick blanket. Slowly, she sat up to take in her surroundings a little more clearly. Beneath her was a thinner piece of cloth that kept the cold of the floor from seeping into her she supposed. There was also a fire crackling not too far from where she lay, far enough that she wouldn't roll onto the flames by accident, but near enough to warm her.

A sudden boom of thunder made Glinda jump and tremble with fear and chill.

The blonde wasn't entirely sure how she had ended up in this cave. There had been that awful, horrible incident with Liir that was now and forever burned into her brain even more then the one featuring his father in a cornfield. But that had been interrupted and there had been a struggle. She had screamed, loudly and frequently both before and during said struggle in the desperate hope that someone would hear her and come to their aid. There had been a crunching sound and then a heavy weight on her before a hand had clamped over her mouth and stifled her screaming while an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back, away from the fight. Someone had whispered in her ear to 'be silent'.

Terror-stricken Glinda had complied at first. However, after a certain point adrenaline combined with fear had kicked in to provide a different reaction and she had fought this new restraint as well, fearing the worst and trying to remember some of the self-defense lessons Elphie had made her take. The blonde was pretty sure she had been more successful with her mystery-kidnapper than she had been with the thugs who had ambushed her and had even somehow twisted out of his grasp. She'd made a run for her life, stumbled down an unexpected drop in the elevation, felt a sudden pain in her head and then…

Then she had awoken here.

Suddenly Glinda realized that she was not wearing the gown she had sported before loosing consciousness. Instead she was only in her shift. She was also aware of the fact that she was not alone. Slowly looking behind her she saw a figure in shadow, a male outline. She shrieked and clutched the blanket to her neck.

"Easy, easy!" A gruff voice exclaimed as the man held out his hands to signify that he meant no harm "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Who are you? How did I get here? Sweet Oz, were _you_ the one who took off my _clothes_?"

"Just your over-dress and it was soaked. You would have sickened if I hadn't. Nothing happened and I didn't see anything if that's what you're worried about, I swear it." As he spoke, the man stepped forward into the light cast by the flames and the blonde's eyes widened. Before her stood a man with the face of her former fiancé, Fiyero Tiggular. Perhaps a little older, a little weathered, but…

"Fiyero?" she breathed. The man rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Not quite." He replied. "Name's Ijiri. Ijiri Tiggular. You must be the blonde who was nearly my in-law."

**A/N: I just want to put in here that I KNOW Ijiri is Fiyero's son in the books. However, this story is musicalverse and the musical messes around with a whole bunch of stuff anyway, so Ijiri is going to be Fiyero's brother in this story. Sorry for the giant liberty being taken but please just deal with it. This works for the purposes of my story and it is fanfiction anyhow.**

**Please review**

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**twilighterj4eva**: Sorry, guess you have to wait a little longer, but not too much. I'm thinking of rearranging things so that its in the next chapter.

**lizziemagic**: Actually, kind of an accidental tie-in but you're right! Hey, I'll take it! I actually really like how this is turning out at the moment, though my plans for possibly shortening it aren't going to come to anything. I just keep adding...Anyway, the sword will come up again, it was only briefly mentioned here (did you pick up on that?) but it will be mentioned again. (Actually, your review reminded me of it, thanks!) Yeah...Liir's not heading to the Vinkus quite yet, as you can see he kind of hit a little bit of a detour...

**The Beautifully Tragic Author**: Thank you! I'm glad I could help! I hope you didn't mind me messing around with relationships in the book (you know, the whole Ijiri thing).

**Frifro**: Thanks! I too experienced a certain vindictive pleasure in locking Morrible in a closet. And as we can see, while Elphaba might not consider herself the most 'natural' mother around, her intuition here was spot on. There will be more Elphie for you soon. Most likely in the next chapter actually.

**Beautifully Tragic Girl:** Thank you! I was quite uncertain about it, but it seems that it did work after all! I had a pretty good time bringing Elphaba's fire back in it. Like lizziemagic, I must thank you for bringin up the sword. It does come up again later, but I had almost forgotten about it! There was a fleeting mention of it, I hope you caught it. Anyways, you might be in for a pleasant surprise in terms of Fiyeraba...

**SunRise19**: No worries, I'm just so grateful that you take the time to review! Thank you so much for your wonderful compliments! OCs are always something I worry about because I know that I'm not always a big fan of them in other people's fics but I can't seem to stop putting them in my own, its good to know that they don't like, completely kill the story. Thanks again!


	22. Part 2 Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Not Mine. **

_**Alrighty, so I just now briefly re-read the last chapter I posted and HOLY TYPOS! Okay, this chapter is probably as bad. Sorry. Reason for this; well I have been insanely busy to the point where I have been staying up into the wee hours of the morning. Not something I'm normally apt to do. I like sleep. Lack of it makes me cranky. However, while this is possibly a sign of mild addiction, I still went through this chapter anyhow for you guys since it has been so highly anticipated by my reviewers. So yeah, there are probably typos but hey, you get an update. When I have time I will go through and fix the new typos I created with the changes that I made to this. **_

_**Please review.**_

_**Anyways, without further ado...**_

**Part 2 Chapter 5**

Every once in a while Liir would be freed from the flashbacks he glimpsed of his past and would again find himself in that strange foggy void, but each new time he was more aware of the tether that linked him to the world. It presented itself as a sort of golden rope that seemed to come into existence less than a foot from him and extend in mid-air for a few feet before fading away into the darkness. There was also some sort of—some sort of glowing path that always seemed to mysteriously stop just in front of him whenever he ended up here.

But then the music would start to play and more of the path would light up and appear in front of him. He would resume following it and soon find his surroundings meld into that of the memory he would relive. But this time, he felt he was close to whatever his destination was. He was nearly there, he was nearly _back_. He started to follow the road in his mind faster, sprinting forward, reaching for his goal until suddenly—

There was nothing. And then…

…music was playing.

The strange and captivating melodies that had guided him in his dreams were the first thing he became aware of as he slowly began to regain consciousness. The beautiful tune was so soothing and-and healing for him somehow.

The next sense to report back to him was that of touch as he came to realize that he was lying on a bed and moved his hand a little across the mattress. It wasn't like the exquisite one he had at home, but it was cozy enough. Unfortunately the pain returned to him as well about a second later. His head was killing him, he could tell his eyes were swollen shut, one arm was numb, both legs were numb and his rib cage ached.

The smells were interesting, he couldn't place them all and didn't bother trying to, but they were conflicting.

Where _was_ he? The last thing he remembered before blacking out was his sister, his sister _with_ him again finally and begging him to stay with her. Yet, the one thing he did know was that she was not with him now. His heart started to pound against his chest, the adrenaline that accompanied his disoriented fear bringing him to consciousness more swiftly. He wasn't entirely sure if this was good. _Everything_ hurt. And it hurt _badly_.

"…Raye?...is that…where are you?" He murmured, his voice a thin rasp as he opened his eyes blearily. At the sound of his whisper he heard a sudden clamor of strings and saw in the unfocused outline of a young woman freeze over her instrument. It wasn't his sister, but he nevertheless wished her to stay. He especially wanted the music to continue.

"please…" he begged, still surprised and ashamed at the pathetic rasp that was his voice. Swallowing in an attempt to clear his throat he tried again, "Don't stop." it was still pathetic but a little clearer. The young woman stared at him with the look of a cornered deer, every muscle in her body tensed. She was quite pretty actually. Her skin was a golden brown colour common among some of the Trading Quadlings as well as the marvelous Quadling cheekbones that people talked about. Her hair was a colour partway between brown and black and confined to a messy braid that fell to her shoulders. She was dressed in a plain, shapeless but sensible frock and was sitting in a chair with a domingan on her lap. Slowly, she got up and backed away, her wide, terrified brown eyes never leaving him until she went to the door and tapped someone just behind it. A rather large Grizzly Bear entered the room in response to it.

"It worked." He said in a stunned tone, "It actually worked." He beamed "I tell you young man; you have no idea how worried we were about you. Thank you Candle. If you wish to go and put the instrument away I don't think it will be needed again for a little while but if you would like to stay…" but the girl was already gone. The Grizzly sighed and shook his head. "Poor thing. She's been making great strides, but I don't think she's come quite that far yet." He said as he picked up a clip board and flipped through the notes on it. He then picked up a bottle of something and poured some of the contents into a glass which he held to the boy's lips gently.

"I know it tastes vile, but it helps raise the hemoglobin and encourages skin regeneration, not to mention clears the throat!" The Chubby brown Bear said cheerfully. His kind manner helped to ease a little of Liir's fear, though the concoction the Bear gave him was disgusting. He choked on it and spat out the mouthful that the Grizzly had helped him swallow.

"There, there! That won't do at all!" he said in a light tone, though he still looked ridiculously cheerful. Suddenly an expression of inspiration crossed his face and he reached into the pocket of his coat, producing a candy from it in two of his claws.

"This stuff is delicious! It tastes just like honey and blueberries! So here, put it in your mouth, suck on it for a bit, and _then_ swallow the rest of the medication." he said happily as he once again tipped a now full glass back so that his patient could drink it. After gulping it down Liir squinted around at his surroundings. There wasn't much. He was in a modestly sized room that held the bed he was currently laying on, the chair Candle had been sitting in, a small medical-looking bedside table and a mini-counter on wheels by the door. There was a window on one wall that allowed the morning light to stream in. It was then that he noticed the many bandages that adorned his body and vaguely remembered acquiring them with a sort of numb shock.

"Who are you?" the young man asked warily, wincing a little at his overall physical discomfort. He was completely at this Bear's mercy and so fresh off of what he had experienced pretty much anything would present itself as a threat to his mind at the moment. The Bear noticed his wince.

"Didn't I introduce myself? Oh I'm terribly sorry dear boy. I'm Dr. D. Akota. Pleasure to meet you." He said with a grin, shaking Liir's good hand with his giant paw. He then turned and took out some potion from a small cabinet on the wall and measured it out carefully into another glass.

The young man was burning to ask the Doctor about his sister's whereabouts, but held his tongue out of caution tempered with fear. The Bear seemed to pick up on this and pulled up the chair Candle had been sitting on previously, taking the seat himself so that he wouldn't be towering over his patient so and hopefully appear less threatening.

"You no doubt want some more information than that, am I correct? Here, this will help with the pain." Akota said as he handed his patient the glass. The dark-haired young man looked at it and sniffed it. He recognized the brew as one that he himself had learned how to make recently during his magic lessons.

"Thanks." Liir muttered. He swallowed this concoction with as few gulps as he could. Thankfully there wasn't much of it to get down so he could continue "Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You are at my hospital. Well, it's more of a clinic really. I keep it going for the resistance. Get a lot of work sometimes, and then there are slower times, as it was just before you came, that are a little more relaxing when Candle and I can- ah. Candle." He had glanced over at the door and saw the musician huddled in the doorway, clutching the case for her instrument. He beckoned to her gently "It's alright, it's safe. I promise. You can come in."

The girl shook her head as she retreated. Liir watched her go with the eye that wasn't covered with bandages.

"Oh dear." Dr. Akota sighed, "I'm afraid she hasn't had much chance to grow accustomed to her own species yet. We've mostly had Animals in here. As I was saying, when it is quieter we get a chance to work with some of our longer-term patients here. We also do a lot of the physical therapy here too, so you will probably be staying with us for a while longer. If you want to that is. Now, as to how you got here…The Lady Mage Rhonaraye brought you. Good thing too, I'm not sure what I would have been able to do for you if she hadn't managed to bring you here when she did…"

"Where is she?" Liir asked urgently. Akota's face fell a little, knowing that the young man wanted him to answer that she was just outside or something. Unfortunately, that wasn't the answer he had.

"There was trouble in Quox. I'm afraid she had to leave. As far as I know, she is alright—"

"She is." Liir assured him. He didn't know where she was but their bond assured him that she wasn't on her deathbed or in serious pain; even then it was more of an absence than anything more reassuring. She had shut herself off to him again.

"Yes." The Bear agreed, not questioning or even remotely doubting him, which was interesting. Liir was tiring. His eyelids felt heavy even as his gaze drifted to the window. A final question occurred to his sleepy mind.

"How long have I been here?"

The Doctor again sighed. His tone changed and became almost grave in his seriousness.

"Son, it's amazing that you have awoken now, that must be the magic in your blood. It could have been much, much worse."

"How long was I out?" Liir pressed. He had vague impressions of him time in the mists of his mind, but also knew that a dream-world did not hold the same clock as the waking world. "A couple days?"

"Liir, you were in a coma. For more than two weeks."

The youth's good eye widened.

8888

It had taken a while for people to realize that Glinda's party had not reached their intended destination considering it was such a long journey. Even then, people first assumed that something far more innocent had gone wrong; a spoke must have broken on the carriage wheel. One of the horses could have turned up lame. They might have taken longer rest stops than people had thought. There could have been some problems with luggage. However, once the remains of The Good Witch of the North's caravan was discovered three days after she had failed to arrive at the first location on her tour, there was no longer any doubt that something terrible had happened. Everyone of Glinda's retinue was dead, save for herself and apparently her disguised godson (who few had been aware was even accompanying his godmother); both of whom were missing.

Morrible had been wise enough to high-tail it out of the city the moment she heard the news through her network of spies. She was not responsible for this particular incident, but didn't want to be in the vicinity when the Vizier found out. The official story for anyone who cared was that she was going to interview the people who were supposed to have met Glinda at her first stop on the tour. This was a rather prudent move.

Needless to say, Elphaba had not reacted well.

It was the first time in years that the servants in the Emerald palace were actually afraid of her. Oh they possessed a very healthy respect for her, of course, but she had always been the rare noble to treat them with respect and dignity in return. However, that day they cowered. She didn't actually hurt any of them but they were still pretty damn scared.

Fortunately for Morrible, Elphaba received _two_ messages that day and the second was delivered by her special Monkey. The poor thing had been delayed by the terrible storm and was drenched and shivering even when she finally managed to drag herself in through the window, exhausted. Nevertheless the young female gave her the piece of paper, the only dry thing with her.

This note was in a shaky scrawl as opposed to the elegant and meticulous penmanship usually exhibited by the author, but was still unmistakably the same handwriting.

_I pray this message reaches you before other news of this does, but regardless, know first that both Liir and Glinda are alive. For fear of their safety and due to the limitations of my own knowledge I cannot tell you in case this message is somehow intercepted. But both Liir and Glinda are alive and in the care of those who will protect them with their lives, I swear it. We have them. _

Elphaba closed her eyes and sank down onto the nearest chair as her knees went weak with worry-laden relief. Her friend lived. Her son lived. By proof of the note her daughter was still alive too. It was not as dire as she had feared. But she still worried because 'not dead' didn't translate into "alright". Her first instinct was to leave, to search for her son and not rest until she found him, but she must wait. If she went charging out now there was a chance it would just make things worse. No, she had still had some things to do. Liir was in safe hands. In fact, she decided that that very next day she was going to address one of them.

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Dr. D Akota turned out to be a wonderful anecdote reciter. He seemed to be permanently cheerful, (unless operating on a patient where he was truly brilliant and serious) had an amazing bedside manner as well as the kindest heart that the young man had come across. He spent time with all of the patients in his clinic from what Liir could see, going out of his way for them on a regular basis: wheeling them around in wheelchairs so that they could see the ground, assisting them in walking on crutches and all sorts of things not in his job description as physician. Liir saw Candle do these things too, though in her case she never came near him again as he recovered in leaps and bounds.

Akota was very good to the Quadling as well, both in private and public. He had seen her whilst she thought he was in another room and she was a totally different person with the Animals then she was with Liir. It was from these glimpses of her that Liir felt something start to grow, a feeling he had never had before.

Candle was so incredibly different from his previous crushes, and he felt that his feelings for her were starting to run deeper too. However, he wasn't entirely sure quite yet if his feelings were directed at her or at what she had done for him. In his mind he could still hear the music she had played for him. Indeed, sometimes she played her dominigan for other patients as well. The sound was beautiful, if uncanny and seemed to possess the strangest healing properties.

One day, around a week after he had arrived, Liir asked Dr. Akota about his assistant again.

"Candle? Oh she's a wonderful girl." He said with a smile as he walked beside the young man slowly. He was doing well on the crutches and his legs were healing both speedily and well.

"Why is she frightened of me?" Liir asked as he watched the girl in question discreetly. The Bear's face fell a little at that.

'That, I'm afraid, is a long story. And I have promised her that _I _wouldn't tell it." The Bear informed him solemnly. He then smiled thinly, as though trying to convince himself as much as Liir of what he said next. "Give her time. She's not used to you yet. She was hurt before, that's all I can say due to my promise."

"How? When? How old is she anyway?"

"I can't tell you that. But I will tell you that she's about 18."

"Really?"

"She doesn't look it does she?" the Bear chuckled, "Well, that's alright. She's been here a couple of years and she seems happy enough. Now, let's take a look at those ribs of yours."

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The Guards in the South Stairs scurried in alarm to tidy up the place and halt all "interrogations"—particularly Animal ones— before the Vizier arrived. This was certainly an unusual instance. The Green Witch rarely took any interest in prisoners, and it was even more unusual (in fact almost unheard of) that she took any interest in the ones that were _not_ Animals. Even then, she had never visited the South Stairs, at least not to public knowledge. The Wizard had rarely allowed his daughter to leave the confines of the Emerald City unaccompanied in the past.

Panic was rampant among the officers. Were the halls dusty? Had all the torches been lit, refilled, replaced? Did the Vizier even _care_ about that stuff? Who knew with her! The prisoners were their greatest worry. They would have to keep them quiet without using some of the more forceful methods, which in themselves would cause noise. Could she be persuaded to stay along one path to a selection of rooms? Unlikely. These were all questions being asked amongst those running the prison.

Consequently, by the time the smoke appeared outside the front gate, they were all in a state of sincere panic. The cell occupants had all been drugged or bribed, depending on their disposition so that the jail managed to convey the illusion of a well-run penitentiary.

"Milady Vizier! Welcome!" the Warden of the South Stairs gushed. "Such a rare and-and-" he scrambled for the right word "Succulent pleasure!" he said. Elphaba rolled her eyes at his obvious ignorance when it came to adjectives. Unfortunately, he seemed intent on continuing to move his mouth.

"We are so incredibly hornorified to have you here, Lady Vizier. Such a wise, wonderful, powerhouse such as yourself! Please forgive my men. They are not accustomed to such a beautiful woman being in here-"

"Close your lips and do not speak, such things are unwise for a mind so weak. Honesty is a virtuous thing; don't make a sound until you've heard its righteous ring." She said casually. The rhyming phrase was merely to distract him and keep his pathetic intelligence confused while she quickly muttered the real spell. It would wear off at midnight, when the Dragon-Clock tolled twelve. Sure it was corny, but it also added a classic touch that surely even these nitwits would be able to comprehend, if not appreciate. The descent down the stone stairs into the depths of the Prison was blissfully devoid of chatter after the Warden discovered that his tongue had disappeared from his mouth. The rest of her greeting party was too nervous to attempt any more conversation than necessary to avoid repeating his mistake.

The Officers led her down into a dank, cold stone corridor lit only by the sickly green torches on the wall. Halfway down the Vizier stopped

"The door at the end is where the prisoner is?" she inquired.

"Y-yes your Vizier…ness." One of the men stammered.

"Very well. Return to your duties. I intend to speak with the Captive myself. Should any of you come within 20 feet of that door I shall know it. Whoever sent you to listen in on my conversation will be disappointed and you eavesdrop at your own risk. _Is that understood_?"

They stood there, rigid with fear and nodded very quickly, handing her the keys before fleeing.

Once she was sure she was alone, Elphaba marched up to the door and unlocked it. She didn't know who this prisoner was, but she knew it was important. Why did her daughter so desperately want her to see this prisoner? Could he have something to do with Liir? Her apprehension and sleepless nights over this matter blurred her memories so that she did not recall that the message about this prisoner had come before the incident with Glinda. At the moment the last few weeks were nothing but a blur.

Setting her jaw in that determined way of hers, the green woman pushed the key into the lock and opened the door.

/

The Scarecrow locked in the dark cell looked up at the sound of the large metallic door opening. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the emerald skin reflected in the torchlight. The woman looked at said sources of light and snapped her fingers. This action caused the enchanted torches to flare higher, thereby providing better illumination. With the room no longer shrouded in darkness she looked at the creature chained to the wall with a raised eyebrow. He could tell what was going through her mind. A _Scarecrow_? This was the thing that had demanded, cajoled and even begged to see her? What could a man of straw want from her? The silver eyes that their daughter had inherited narrowed slightly in intrigue.

"You are the prisoner that requested an audience?" were the first words out of her mouth. It was phrased as a question but clearly wasn't one.

"Yes" he managed to croak, keeping his head bowed so she wouldn't see the illogical, irrational despair that he felt. After all this time…now they were finally together again and she wouldn't recognize him. Well why should she? Not only was he a scarecrow but he was supposed to have been dead for about two decades. Nevertheless, the heart did not always follow the cold, unfeeling rules of logic.

"Why?" Elphaba asked. The question snapped him out of his self-pitying revere.

"I beg your pardon Vizier?" he asked humbly, his straw hat still obscuring most of his face. With his hands shackled to the wall, he couldn't fix it to allow her to see his face completely.

"Why did you wish to talk to me? What do you think is so vital that it required my express attention called to it?"

"I have information on one you love." He whispered. Her reaction startled him. Elphaba rounded on him with the look of a baited animal ready to tear her quarry apart

"What have you done with Liir?" she snarled as she half lunged towards him in a threatening motion.

"What? Nothing! What do you mean? What's happened?" Fiyercrow exclaimed, his head jerking up. He had been a prisoner for months, and had no notion of what had occurred in the outside world since his capture— certainly nothing about his son!

"There hasn't been news of him in weeks!" Elphaba told him.

"That has nothing to do with me." He said decisively, "What's going on?"

There was a thick, heavy silence for a bit as Elphaba tried to decide whether or not to believe him. Fiyero realized that he would most likely need to make her recognize him before getting anything more out of her on the matter. Therefore it was with a little reluctance that he changed the subject when he finally broke the terrible quiet by inquiring,

"You know, everyone knows your son, Vizier. The Wizard's grandson. But I've always wondered…what happened to his father?"

The green woman straightened crossed her arms tightly over her chest in an uncompromising stature.

She laughed a single dry, humorless laugh.

"You know that you're the only person other than my son to ever ask me that, Scarecrow? You'd think the question would pop up but I guess not. The wonderful _Citizens of Oz_ come up with their own ridiculous stories and I swear the new generation is worse. I'm just past the point of bothering with them." Elphaba muttered with weary contempt. She glanced down at the floor as she kicked a discarded tray across the floor absently.

"He's dead." She finally said, her voice wooden. Dead.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Those that are dead are dead."

"What of you…Fae?" The Scarecrow pressed in a whisper, using her old codename and his nickname for her. The Sorceress froze, suddenly recognizing the voice she had not heard in nearly 20 years and hardly daring to believe it. The Man of Straw continued

"You are a powerful sorceress. Why do you doubt your abilities Elphaba?"

"Who are you?" the Green woman hissed, drawing back a little. Few new her given name, let alone her codename, and fewer used it. Finally the Prisoner looked up and saw her eyes widen when they met his.

"No…" she breathed, shaking her head in denial as tears formed in her eyes. She turned her back to him and stumbled over to the table in the middle of the room, leaning over it for support.

"Elphie-Fae, it's _me_. Fiyero. Please look at me." He begged

"I don't know who you are, or how you found out about him but haven't I suffered enough?" she cried.

"Please Fae, listen to me! It's me! How can I prove this to you?" Fiyero pleaded. Elphaba straightened at this question and turned to him again, her expression hard and her eyes flashing.

"Three questions." She challenged "That only _we_ knew the answers to."

"Ask away." He replied confidently. She took a few steps towards him, her black skirts rustling slightly with the movement as she crossed her arms over her chest once again.

"What did I say to Fiyero the night we ran away together?"

"Really? You ask something that covers hours of conversation?"

"I knew it." She scoffed as she started to leave, misinterpreting his answer as an evasion.

"You said it was the first time you felt Wicked." He told her, halting the witch. "That the answer you were looking for?" There was a pause before she asked her next question.

"When did Fiyero throw start obsessing over the possibility that our child might be green?"

"Trick question Fae. You were the one worried about that. I didn't care and I told you that, _repeatedly_. I also told you that I would love you no matter what, and I meant it. I _still_ mean it." He replied with grave sincerity. There was silence again for a while

"What did you give me as token of your love?" she asked, almost in a whisper. This was the hardest question. She had told no one about the pendant she wore and had placed a charm on it so that literally, no one noticed it if she didn't want them to—and she had never wanted anyone to.

"A diamond-and-emerald crystal set in gold enamel with a gold chain. It had been in my family for years. It was my grandmother's and meant to be for my bride. I gave it to you to show that I loved only you and wanted to be with you forever. I'd have married you if you'd have let me. You said you wouldn't take it off for as long as you lived." He told her softly. Subconsciously Elphaba's hand went to her collarbone. While it couldn't be seen due to her high-necked dress, she wore it still.

"But…how…_how_?" she managed to get out.

"Your spell worked." He told her.

"Oh Sweet Oz…" she gasped, her silver eyes wide with shock and— he suddenly realized— horror. "What have I done to you? Oh Oz, _what have I done_? How must you _hate_ me…"

"What? Elphaba no! Don't think that!" Fiyercrow cried. He hadn't anticipated this, and he should have.

"Everything I touch…" the green woman hyperventilated "Everyone I love…I ruin their lives…" she sobbed, her hand going to her mouth as the tears started to trail down her cheeks.

"Elphie-Fae, please listen to me! You _saved_ my life! You didn't ruin it! The only thing that has been missing from my life since I became the Scarecrow was _you_. You and Liir." He told her. At this the Vizier seemed to calm down a little. Then she practically flew over to him and wrenched the shackles binding him to the wall open, catching him as he slumped to the ground. She knelt to the stone floor while still supporting him. The Scarecrow collected himself a bit and they threw their arms around each other in a tight and passionate embrace.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you come?" she asked him tearfully, memories of that awful time flooding her mind. She never wanted to let him go ever again. He felt the same as he leaned his cloth cheek against her warm green one, fisting his burlap fingers in her thick black hair as he held her as tightly as he was able.

"I tried." He told her "I tagged along with Dorothy to find you. You have no idea how nerve-racking it was when the psychopathic Tin Man showed up. Then…Oz Elphie, than I heard that you had _died_! You'll never know how dark a time was for me. If it hadn't been the rainy season and too wet for any blaze to catch, I might not have made it. By the time I heard the whole story, you were already the Vizier, and getting to you was impossible. But it wasn't all terrible. I did find someone that I thought I'd never see."

Something clicked in Elphaba's mind.

"Rhonaraye…"

"Our daughter Fae, Rhonaraye is our daughter." He said with pride, pulling back from the hug to meet her eyes.

"I know…I didn't find out until I had to help her escape but-but how did she survive? They'd told me she'd died, even Nanny Goat said so!"

"Elphaba, I thought that you of all people would have had faith in Chistery."

"Chistery? I'd wondered but…He really flew her all the way to the Resistance? But she was so weak! Sh-she was a breech!"

"And according to Dr Dillamond she was a cause for concern for several months. But she pulled through—"

"Dr Dillamond?" she exclaimed. Fiyero nodded. She sighed, "I'll have to ask you about him later, we don't have a lot of time—You raised her?"

The Scarecrow nodded.

"From when she was a toddler. And I tell you, even if she did come into the world with weak lungs, that didn't last long. She's got the immune system of an Ox! And whatever disadvantages she had starting out, she made up for it with spitfire, determination and your brains, thank Oz!" He laughed as he remembered instances from his daughter's childhood. Elphaba smiled too as she stroked his cloth cheek, tears in her eyes at having been reunited with the lover that she had never expected to see again. She laughed a little in joy mingled with sadness. How she wished that she had been there for those memories too.

"Who named her?" The green woman asked.

"I sort of did. They called her Nari. Apparently it means Hope in some obscure dialect. They filled out a forged birth certificate a little while after I got there, which is when we decided on her full name."

"You know what I would have named her, given the opportunity." Elphaba said quietly.

"Yes, and that's why I didn't." Fiyero replied coolly.

"What?" his love asked, confused.

"It was too obvious. It's not that common a name after all, even in Munchkinland." He said. His second reason hung in the air between them, unvoiced. Fiyero had never liked Nessa. He had taken particular offense to the way she treated her sister, and the way Elphaba simply took it even if she would take it from no one else except her father.

Just then a sound from the outside made them jump.

"We don't have much time." Elphaba said in a hushed tone

"Go, it's alright. They can't hurt me. _Though they beat him, let him feel no pain. _Remember? Besides, Morrible will be here soon if you don't get back."

"_Her_." Elphaba scoffed contemptuously "She has no hold over me anymore. Liir is out of her clutches and I would dearly love to see her take me on in a contest of magic!" the green woman hissed with a savage glee.

"You don't know how extensive or dangerous some of her agents are, Elphaba. Even our daughter had difficulty avoiding one of those goons once or twice. One even managed to track her down once and even she had some difficulty dealing with him, and she knew exactly what was coming. I can't lose you again, _please_."

"I can't leave you." The green woman whispered.

"You never will. Besides, it's only for a little while." Fiyero said, the sadness in his voice poorly concealed. After nearly 20 years they got less than 20 minutes! Nevertheless, he stood and raised his arms back into the shackles. Before she put them back on though, the Green woman quickly kissed him, stepping back after her lover was once again secured to the wall.

"I love you." They said in unison before the Vizier slowly walked out of the room, feeling her heart crack. And yet, it also felt as though something in the same vicinity was being put back together at the same time.

As she left, she made herself a vow: She wouldn't lose him again. She ordered that the prisoner was not to be touched, interrogated or even interacted with on any level above them sliding food in to him. Fire was to be kept as far away as possible from that room. The soldiers of course thought that she was intent on keeping him cold, lonely and generally in discomfort. She didn't bother to correct them.

She would be back. She would return, in more ways than one.

Her days of imprisonment within the Emerald City were now and forever _over_.

**There we are. Nice and long and there;s the reunion that everyone was waiting for =D. Hope you guys liked it. Please show your appreciation or just your thoughts by leaving me a review!**

**Actually, I have a request for you guys. I need suggestions for a name for the male mage that I mentioned earlier. He had a name in the original version of course; "Archimedes". I really hate that name for him now and especially with the changes that I'm making, it fits him less and less. Honestly, what was I _thinking_? Anyways, if you guys have some ideas and/or suggestions I would love love love to hear them...**

**lizziemagic**: I think I got all your questions with the PM I sent you, I think. Anyways, as usual, thanks for reviewing!

**WickedWriterofTheWest**: No worries. Thanks for dropping me a line.

**Anna Marie Raven: **Yeah, but that would have him either cheating on Glinda, Elphie or make him a dead-beat dad, none of which I really wanted to do. Besides, I kind of wanted Ijiri to be around the same age as them and yeah. Sorry for messing around with that if it bothers you.

**FriFro: **Here's plenty of Elphie for you and Fiyero too ;D

**elphieT:** *Chuckles* Oh I plan on putting in a good scene or two with Glinda and Ijiri certainly, and I'm planning to do quite a bit with the two mages too, hopefully make their relationship more complex and messed up and therefore interesting than it was before.  
Thanks, I kind of wanted to show a little bit of what Raye's relationship with her guardians was like. I realized that in the original we saw at least a little of what it was like with Fiyero and Dr. Dillamond, but not much with Ralimla. So I decided to fix that.


	23. Part 2 Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Honestly? If I owned any part of Wicked, would I really be on FANfiction?**

**A/N: I was glad to see that people liked the Fiyeraba reunion, though I'm still waiting on anysuggestions for male-Mage's name...  
****anyways, please read and review.**

**Part 2 chapter**** 6**

Liir's recuperation was difficult, but alarmingly rapid. Dr. Akota was surprised at the rate at which his body was healing itself, but couldn't say that he was floored by it. The boy was not only young and just entering his prime, but he had strong magical blood running through his veins. While that didn't always equate to an increased rate of physical fitness, it had been known to in the past. His sister certainly was a fast healer. However, that being said, it wasn't the young man's physical injuries that the physician worried about.

Liir, Akota knew, had been tortured. The Bear had treated the wounds of too many rescued rebels (among them a certain powerful red-head) who had experienced such things not to recognize it. And, apparently true to family form, Liir was refusing to acknowledge the deep, agonizing wounds that no one could see. He slept fitfully and startled at sounds and would break out into a cold sweat at seemingly random intervals when something would hurl him back into the moments of the attack and his "interrogation". He was doubly prone to that particular symptom of trauma due to his abilities as a Seer. The young man refused to talk about it though, and claimed little memory of the incident when questioned about it though.

It was ironic actually. He was a lot like Candle in this regard at the moment. It certainly seemed that neither of them was ever free from those dark times in their life. Indeed, about a week or so after Liir had come out of his coma, the Bear was awoken by a scream from Candle's room down the hall from his own. Dr. Akota had leapt out of bed and rushed to his young friend's room to find her wide-eyed and quaking like a leaf, her the chest and back of her nightgown drenched in a cold sweat. The Bear knew exactly what this was and sighed. Her night-terrors, which had been present since those dark days when they had met 6 years ago, still happened now and then. As she slowly got better they had become fewer and far in between but still occasionally presented themselves. Akota suspected that they would likely follow her for the rest of her life, though he hoped they would become rarer as time went on, like they had been doing.

"Shh. It's alright Candle. It was just a dream. Just a dream." The Bear said comfortingly. He sat down next to her on her bed, the mattress groaning with his considerable weight, and wrapped a furry arm around her, rubbing her arm with his paw soothingly.

"No it's _not_ alright! I see _them_! In the house! And then…then my family, my village! Their screams, their cries for help…and then…and then…" she trailed off with a new round of sobs, unable to continue. The Bear hugged her close.

"Shh, shh. Now listen to me Candle, listen. I promise you that despicable waste of air will _never_ harm you again! Not while I'm around to stop it! Do you understand? You will always have me." the Bear Physician said with a fierce protectiveness that surprised the human listening at the door as he looked through the key hole. Candle was in her nightdress and was clinging to him still and the bear was seated, rubbing her back soothingly like a parent would do for a child.

"I know." She whispered, calming down somewhat, though still shaking a little "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you, Doctor." There was silence for a moment before Candle asked in a very small voice, "Dr. Akota…could I sleep in your room for the rest of the night?"

"Of course." The Bear told her. She sniffed and gathered up her pillow as Akota picked up the extra blanket at the foot of the bed and draped it over his arm.

"As your doctor, I would advise you to get a dry nightgown on. It is starting to get colder. I'll give you some privacy." He said kindly. She nodded and he smiled at her before heading out the door, closing it behind him to give her that privacy. When he did that and looked up, he saw someone else looking at him with wide eyes. Liir was standing there in the shadows, clearly having heard the exchange.

"Hello Liir." Akota said coolly. The young man was currently their only patient staying at the clinic overnight, the others had recovered and checked out, leaving Akota and Candle in one of their quieter spells.

"I-I'm sorry." Liir stammered "I-I heard her scream and I—" he looked horror-struck "Doctor what happened to her? What did they _do_ to her?"

"It is not my story." The Doctor told him a second time "And I promised that I would not repeat it. Go back to bed Liir. Everything is fine."

Liir met the Bear's eye and then reluctantly nodded. He didn't know how Candle would react to seeing him there, particularly right now. He was starting to piece together a vague sense of what had happened to her, though it seemed he would have to find someone else to fill him in on it.

Why did such things happen to good people like Candle? She was the sweetest person he had ever met, even if she was a little on the quiet side. Thankfully, she seemed to have found quite the protective father-figure in Doctor Akota. Liir could only hope as he limped away that by some miracle that nothing would happen to them. He hoped nothing would, but he feared that, being affiliated with the Rebellion, something surely would.

Unfortunately his fears were realized.

_888888888888888888_

Liir had been on the second floor of the cottage-clinic when it happened, going through his things in search of his father's sword. He had asked Doctor Akota about it and the Bear had told him that he didn't remember such a distinctive piece being brought in with him, but admitted to being a little preoccupied. He had as well, though now that he was on the mend and had been told that his Godmother was safe, his concern for his father's heirloom had resurfaced with a vengeance. The last time he recalled having it was in the clearing where he had been…"interrogated". It had been just out of his reach whilst the bounty hunter tortured him.

The young man didn't care about the ruined uniform which had been washed, but was nevertheless in shreds. He discarded it without a second thought. The belt and the revolver on the other hand might be useful. He had been scrutinizing the latter when he felt a deep sense of dread settle in the pit of is stomach. The next second there was a loud boom, like an explosion.

Liir hobbled over to the stairs and stayed in the shadows, discovering that this was exactly what had happened. A group of rather large men in ambiguous uniforms were standing in what remained of the doorway. Doctor Akota was on the floor at the foot of the stairs, having been knocked over with the force of the blast. Each of the intruders held a gun in their hands and the one at the head was smoking an obnoxious smelling cigar. The group sauntered, smacking the butts of their rifles like clubs against their hands in a menacing manner.

"Find the Wizantier wimp boys, but uh," he scoffed and laughed condescendingly "Be careful with the delicate lil' mamma's boy. We want 'im alive this time."

Liir's eyes flitted between his gun and what was going downstairs as he fumbled for some ammunition from the compartment on his belt, something that would have been handy back in that clearing. The young man slipped 8 shots into it. He remained quiet and unseen as Dr. Akota was prodded with a gun to stand just at the foot of the stairs. Then he heard a scream as one of the men dragged a trembling, shrieking Candle into the room.

"Look what we got 'ere!" one of them drawled, "A pretty little Quadling!" Liir's face drained of colour upon recognizing one of the thugs that had hospitalized him. The damned Bounty Hunters!

The man threw Candle to the ground and she scurried over to the Bear who knelt to hold her protectively. The young woman was shaking like a leaf, terror evident on her face and in her body language as she shrank into Dr. Akota's fur. The soldiers noticed this too and traded excited smirks which sent Liir's stomach lurching. Clearly these perverts had decided to extract some more sick pleasure out of the suffering of others. But then again, at least three of them were the ones that had attacked Liir and had pledged their loyalty to the Goblin King's treasury.

The looks exchanged by the thugs did not go unnoticed by the Bear.

"You will not touch her!" he snarled at them, hugging Candle to him even more tightly, a murderous look on his face that shocked Liir with its intensity.

The Raiders, on the other hand just laughed.

"You won't be able to do anything about it! Just you two here eh?" he sneered. They didn't contradict him. The other three patients besides Liir had left a couple of days earlier and his other assistant was out on business. So it was just the three of them.

"You'll have to go through me!" Akota growled, nudging Candle behind him and standing to his full height. To everyone's surprise, he was an imposing figure when he wanted to be. You never really noticed how tall he was most of the time. He was just so kindly and open that you never really paid attention to how far you were looking up to see his face.

Another of the bounty hunters shook off his shock and raised his gun

"I don't have a problem with that." He said nonchalantly with a shrug. Candle shrieked and stumbled in front of him on her knees crying

"NO! Don't please! Please!"

Another of the intruders, a man a little older than some of his comrades, stepped foreword and looked at her. The girl's eyes widened and she froze, looking like a trapped hare. It was then that Liir acted. He took aim with his rifle and fired. He hit the one with the rifle trained on the Doctor right below the collar bone, nicking the muscle by the sound of it. The guy screamed in pain and dropped the weapon. The others then started to take theirs out but Liir was still firing. He got another three before something rather unexpected happened.

"STOP!" Candle shrieked at the remaining two that were standing just as one managed to get the Bear in the equivalent of an elbow. They would have ignored her if she wasn't holding one of the dropped rifles with a dangerous look in her eye. She was still clearly terrified, but there was now determination mingled with that desperate fear.

"Drop them!" she yelled, indicating their firearms. Her hands were trembling, but her aim was somehow steady.

"Do what she says!" Liir called, making his somewhat painful way down the stairs slowly. The older of the two that had shocked Candle by his presence looked nervous a moment, but then a sly smirk crossed his face.

"Well I'll be." He laughed sadistically "You know there are days where I miss my time in the good ole' G.F. I see you didn't learn anything last time, did you my pretty? Something I'll be sure to teach you now…" he drawled as the two remaining raiders began to move in. The young Wizard hadn't noticed the pistol but the young woman had. With a scream of rage (and something else that Liir couldn't quite place) she fired. Twice. One bullet in each man's chest. She then fired more bullets into the older one until she ran out of ammunition at which point she ran towards the felled villain with the rifle raised over her head, intent on smashing the man's skull in with the butt of the gun.

"Candle! Candle _stop_!" Liir cried, praying he wouldn't frighten her away as he grabbed the barrel of the rifle and snatched it from her. She had _just_ gotten to the stage where she would actually come close enough to hand him something, but he felt he had to stop her here. The Quadling rounded on him with a strange, vengeful look in her eye, her sides heaving with the deep, panting breaths that she was taking. Dr. Akota scrambled to his feet and limped over to his charge and put a paw on her shoulder. She straightened and seemed to collect herself. Liir still had the gun. He looked over at the men that were just wounded and not even unconscious. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the big handle and then at them. He knew how to knock a person out without killing them. And that was exactly what he did whilst Candle pulled the Doctor up the stairs so that she could "bandage his wound", but he suspected that the Bear and his charge would probably be setting something up, or calling someone in that he wasn't supposed to see.

Sure enough within minutes a couple of Animals showed up. There was a white Tigress and a rather large Dodo.

"Akota!" the Bird exclaimed, "What happened?"

"What do you think happened?" the Cat spat at him. Suddenly Liir recognized her

"Hey! It's you!" he cried.

"He remembers me! How sweet." She purred, before turning her attention back to Candle and Dr. Akota, "Its time for you two to come back to headquarters."

"What about him?" the Eagle asked, jerking his head in Liir's direction

"What _about_ him?" The Cat Muhlama asked with a shrug

"We can't leave him." said a small voice. To everyone's surprise it came from the Quadling girl. She took a deep breath and then continued, "Those men nearly killed him before and they will try again. I'm sure of it. Even if they don't kill him, they want him badly." They all looked at her and to Liir's surprise; the others seemed to be taking this as seriously as he was.

"Were they?" Muhlama demanded

"Yes." He said, unsure why it was important, "But there's more! I think—I think they might be working for an enemy of Oz as well. When they were interrogating me, they said some things…I've just been remembering over the last few weeks. I need to go back and warn my mother!"

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"I hadn't remembered until last night. Candle was playing her instrument, and I could remember more of what they said." For several long moments there was a tense silence. Finally, the Dodo broke it.

"Akota, do you have it? It is evident we should return to headquarters now. He will need to go before the council."

"Now? He's barely started walking again! You know how General Kynot will grill him." The Bear said with a stubborn shake of his head.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about? Go where? Have what?" Liir demanded, annoyed at being discussed as though he weren't in the room.

"Have you a better idea?" Muhlama challenged

"Candle can go with you. I will stay with him."

"Doctor, your clinic is in ruins and the location is found out. When those thugs wake up they will come back with any friends they may have and will be out for blood."

"You think I can't look after my own _patients_?" the Bear growled

"Hold on, hold on!" Liir interrupted "I think I should get a say in this and I want to know what's going on!"

"See? He agrees." The Tigress said smugly.

"That isn't what he said—"

"We have no time for this!" Muhlama interrupted "We have to leave. He is strong, he will make it. We have no more time. You still keep it in the attic?"

Akota nodded and the Tigress loped up the stairs and then up a trapdoor. When she returned she had something long and cloth-like tucked under her arm. With a coy grin at Liir's confusion she snapped the rug out so that it lay flat on the floor. Barely a heartbeat later the carpet levitated into the air at the level of the young man's waist of its own free will.

"Whoa." Liir said.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Another raid? Get on!" Muhlama ordered. He did so a little unwillingly, along with Candle and Dr. Akota. He ended up needing a little assistance thanks to his healing injuries. The Dodo and Cat proceeded to load and tie on an assortment of parcels. Muhlama also gave Akota a medallion from around her own neck.

"You know what to do with it." She said, "We will lead you, but stay above the cloud line. We can't afford to attract unnecessary attention. See you soon, Wizantier." The last statement was made directly to Liir with a mocking salute.

"Excuse me Liir, but if you wouldn't mind moving over, that is actually the driver's seat." The Bear said kindly. The young man was more than happy to relinquish his unintentional position as Akota moved to the front of the rug and took hold of two of the decorative knottings of string that went around the edges of the cloth. It seemed to be then that he realized he didn't have full use of both arms due to his new wound and looked to his assistant.

"Candle dear, will you take this side? I'll tell you when to pull on it." He told her. She nodded and elbowed Liir over a bit to sit by her mentor.

"Now, hold on to my fur, Liir. I'm afraid I'm more of a Physician than a Flyer and this is not an easy vehicle to pilot. This ride might get a bit uncomfortable."

That was the single biggest understatement that the Seer had ever heard.

Perhaps it was because he was stuck in the back, maybe it was just that carpeting wasn't a mode of transportation he was destined to enjoy with its rippling motions that carried them through the sky. The ride was sheer hell. He felt as though he was going to fall off half the time and loose the contents of his stomach the other half. If this was flying then he had been seriously wrong about how incredible it had appeared when he was little!

They didn't seem to be taking any particular course. They took so many turns and back-tracked and twisted around so often that he lost track. However, the hardest part for him was when they reached the mountain range. The air thinned and chilled. He could feel the sweat on his forehead freeze on his brow. His fingers and limbs stiffened from the cold and he shivered like mad. His mind and senses started to blur, but this time he stubbornly held on to consciousness. At one point the Bear had to reach back and pull him back onto the rug before he fell off. Candle felt the cold as well, but she didn't seem to have the same problems with it that he did. Finally, they slowed to a stop and the large bear fumbled with something around his neck until the Quadling helped him take it off. Dimly in the back of his mind Liir registered that he was doing something to the side of the cliff…

The next thing Liir was acutely aware of was someone putting a blanket around him and handing him a hot drink. A few minutes after that, a dog (dog, not Dog) wormed its nose under his hand, demanding gently and playfully to be petted. The animal seemed oddly familiar somehow.

"Hey there." He greeted it with a tired smile. The canine barked. His vision was clearing and he could see it better. The dog was massive upon first impression. Clearly mixed with wolf at some point it had long, shaggy dark fur and perky ears with a long red tongue hanging outside of its—his—mouth. Suddenly there Liir was aware that he was being watched and looked up from the dog to see a pair of large brown eyes staring at him with the eager innocence of a child. Indeed, on closer inspection, they were the eyes of a child. A young Mule colt was watching him excitedly, his little tail swishing in his excitment. He grinned and pranced on the spot.

"I know who you are!" he exclaimed in the awe of extreme youth.

"Really?" Liir asked. The dog he was petting flumped down as he promptly sat, clearly deciding that he intended to have the human scratching behind his ears for a fair while, though he kept and eye on the Mule. "Who am I then?"

"You're Liir!" said Mule replied before perking even further "And I'm Zachariah!" he declared, tossing his head with a whinny of exuberant pride at the fact as he pranced on the spot again in a sudden burst of hyper energy. Just then a Wren came around the corner looking this way and that, calling for Zachariah. The Mule halted mid-prance and hunched over a little with overly-wide large brown eyes, the very picture of a guilty party.

"There you are!" The Wren exclaimed when she saw him and the Colt looked around slowly, a very sheepish guilty look on his cute little face. "Begging your pardon Zack, but you know its time for your nap! Come on now, or I'll tell your auntie. I will!"

"But I'm not sleepy!" Zack whined "_Pleeeaaase_ Dosey?"

"Begging your pardon, but _no_." The Wren, Dosey, told him kindly. The Colt hung his head and pouted as he stood and started trudging off. The dog twisted into a standing position and trotted after the Mule, apparently unaware of Liir's existence all of a sudden as he chased ahead of the Colt. Sweet Oz, the dog was as big as his charge! He waited there and felt that he must have dosed off quite quickly. He was awoken at feeling the blanket around his shoulders being tugged on. He glanced down to see the Bird tugging on it. He shook his head groggily to see the Wren having once again returned.

"Begging your pardon sir, but the Council will hear you now, just through that door." Dosey said.

"Where am I? What happened to Candle and Dr. Akota?" Liir inquired as he rose stiffly to his feet, clutching the blanket around him.

"They're fine. I'm Dosey by the way, begging your pardon. And you are in HQ. Begging your pardon, but I'm not allowed to say any more." The Bird said as she started to usher the young man in. "Go on, in you go. They don't bite… …at least not often." Upon looking back at him with wide, shocked eyes Liir saw the mischievous expression on Dosey's face. She was joking about the last part, or at least, the young man hoped she was. The little Bird and the dog remained at the door.

Liir gulped and entered the chamber, still possessing a slight limp. He looked around to take in his surroundings. It was intimidating to say the least. He was standing in what resembled an old Gladiator ring from the days of the earliest Ozmas. All around the circular depression were ornate seats set in multiple ascending levels seemingly carved directly into the stone. The young man estimated that hundreds could probably cram into the seats if they wished to fill the stadium, but there was no such desire today, for all the seats he could see were empty. There was one balcony arc of the circle directly opposite the entrance through which he had come in which protruded more that the others did and had seats that were larger and more ornately carved. There was also a sleek wooden table set in front of the chairs. Three additional exits/entrances were present behind this deluxe seating.

Liir had just started to get a handle on the scenery when the lights dimmed so that all he could see was the sandy ground in front of him. In the centre of this space was a chair. His healing wounds were aching horribly from both the healing process and the terrible cold outside and he was more than grateful for the chance to sit down. He had barely done so when, as if on queue, some of the lights around that first-class seating arrangement flared into life, making him jump. A moment later people started filing out of the three entrances at the back of the ledge like jurors in a court room. Liir could only presume that these Animals that were filing out in a line from both side entrances and taking seats were the Council members of the Rebellion. He counted nine in all, including, too his surprise, two humans: A Quadling man and what looked like a munchkinland farmwoman who needed assistance onto the tall chair which was propped up for her.

Finally, three figures emerged from the door in the centre. The first to walk— or rather hop— in was a rather large, military-looking Eagle with one clubbed foot, undoubtedly a battle injury from the scarring. He took the centre-right seat. The second to be brought in came from the large centre door as a group of people bearing tribal markings that Liir recognized as that of the Vinkus Scrow tribe carried in a large palanquin, upon which a massive she-Elephant lay. She took the exceptionally large throne in the very centre.

Finally the third and final council member to enter the room came in through the left door. It was another human woman who took the centre left seat, and despite how she had changed, Liir would always recognize her.

"Nari?" he breathed

* * *

**FriFro**: *Chuckles at review*. Yes, i did rather enjoy your reaction, thank you for sharing it with me! I'm always glad to hear that someone enjoys my stuff. :)

**twilighterjf4eva**: Thank you! I'd appreciate any suggestions on the name, but if all else fails, I will just mash up a made-up name, like I did with Rhonaraye's name actually. I think I PMed you about this, but yes, I have started on a sequel, but it will come out after this rewrite is done because it has elements from the changes that I've made here as well. Hopefullyit wont take too long.

**just another**: Why thank you! I'm glad to hear it! Oh she won't be leaving him for long...but you'll have to keep reading ;).

**PurpleReader29**: Thank you so much for all of your feedback! I love it when people leave reviews as they go! Alright, here is the answer to some of your responses; Talking Animals are definitely cool. I'm not going to kill Fiyero, certainly not this early in the game ;). Yeah, i am kind of mean to Dorothy...what can I say? She kind of annoyed me, particularly when I (tried to) watch it a little while ago. You do have a point though, she has been away from Kansas for a LONG time...  
I'm really glad that you zoned in on the stuff between the two mages. That's all I'm going to say about that for now. As for the finger,sorry that wasn't clearer. I should go back and fix that. Raye is the one who lost a finger. Thanks again for your wonderful reviews!

**lizziemagic**: Always love hearing from you! No, it wasn't updated that much. It was one of the stronger scenes from the original and as I mentioned I being run off my feet at the time so I just kept it mostly as is. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to go back and fix any mistakes. As to Elphaba's reaction, I figured I should put something in_. _Glad you liked.


	24. Part 2 Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**To those who celebrate it, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Otherwise, just Happy Holidays in general :). Enjoy the break! This chapter may have taken some time, but in my defense it is quite long. So enjoy, and again, Happy Holidays :D!**

**Part 2 chapter 7**

Liir could vaguely remember his sister being the one to rescue him, but he hadn't been in a position to do a great deal of detailed observation at the time, certainly not like he was now. She was so incredibly changed from the coltish 15-year-old carrot-top he'd gone to school with so long ago.

The first thing he noticed was her hair. It still cascaded down her back in thick waves that were currently confined to a horsetail, but the colour had clearly deepened over the years. It was no longer a shade reminiscent of carrots, but was now a true, deep red. Her skin too, had deepened in shade. She looked as if she had gotten a tan recently. Her eyes were the same though. They were still eerie and silver and penetrating. Something else that was new was the scar that ran across from her cheekbone to just before her jaw line at the level of her earlobe. He wondered how she had gotten that. There were also no spectacles.

While Liir didn't notice anything past the face of the friend he had known, Raye had changed in other ways too. She was no longer the flat-chested, lanky girl she had been at the age of 15. She was still tall, (in fact the years had added another inch and a half to that, making her nearly 5 ft 11) and slender, but had filled out in other places, giving her a little more in the way of curves. Not an overly large amount, but slightly more noticeable. Liir, being her brother, did not notice this part though.

Once she had taken her seat the Eagle sitting on the other side of the Elephant addressed him, causing his attention to drift briefly from the friend he had not seen in so long.

"Liir Wizantier." The Eagle said, "You are sitting before this council because you have requested asylum."

"Sorry, I did _what_?" Liir asked in confusion. He didn't remember asking anything for anything other than information on what had been going on and maybe something warm when he had first entered. He was ignored and the General continued

"However, there are those of us who suspect you of being a spy—"

"A _SPY_?" Liir exclaimed incredulously. Again he was ignored.

"But it is the opinion of other members of this council that it is too dangerous to us to have you roam recklessly around Oz in the manner in which you have been." At this General Kynot shot a significantly dirty look at the red-haired young woman on the other side of the Elephant. Rhonaraye pointedly did not react to this.

"Oh for Lurline's sake Kynot!" a Swan snapped "Can we get on with this? The boy is not on trial here and half of us have been up for the past 2 days!"

"He is also not to be trusted." The Eagle stated coldly, "And even if you are tired, we expect a certain level of professional behavior. I don't care if you are going through a difficult time, all of us are."

The Swan looked mutinous, but said nothing more. The Elephant intervened.

"Liir," she began, her voice ancient and powerful and mediating "You must understand our conflict over this matter,"

Liir ground his teeth. He _didn't_ understand because _no one_ was telling him _anything_!

"You are the grandson of our greatest enemy, the Wizard. You have been instructed and therefore possibly corrupted by his puppeteer, Morrible."

He looked over at Rhonaraye. She looked back at him, her expression set in that carefully-schooled mask of hers and her mind closed off to him. His attention was diverted back to the she-Elephant when she began to speak to him again

"Now, for the record, do you wish asylum?" she asked. General Kynot then stepped in. During the Eagle's tirade Liir noticed that a few of the other council members looked uncomfortable with what he was saying.

"Should we accept, you shall only be permitted in the areas of this base that we allow you. You will tell us everything that you know about the Wizard's forces and about what happened. You shall be guarded and escorted at all times. You shall not try to communicate with anyone outside of the resistance so that you will not be able to betray us—"

"Alright, that is _enough_!" Raye finally snapped, suddenly on her feet with the pads of her fingers on the table as she stood erect, glaring around the Elephant at the General. Several other council members seemed to agree. A male White Tiger bearing a striking resemblance to Princess Muhlama stood as well.

"General, with all due respect, I don't see the purpose for such an argument. Liir has done nothing to us! I know my daughter thinks well of him."

"Please. Muhlama is hardly the trademark of reliability." The Serpent scoffed. Hm. So the Tiger _was_ related to Muhlama.

"She is rebellious, yes. But that doesn't make her a poor judge of character." Someone else piped up, Liir wasn't sure who exactly at this point.

"Look, I don't see the problem." A Swan stated "Why are we even out here in the middle of the night anyway? Why not just let him stay? What else are we going to do with him anyway?"

"He is the Grandson of our most hated enemy!" A Rabbit exclaimed "Not to mention the Vizier, who has also worked for the Wizard for nearly 20 years!"

Several council members found themselves unable to stay silent, nor was Liir able to.

"My mother is no traitor if that's what you're implying!" He yelled over the din. "She has worked all her life to help Animals!"

"Really? Then where are the results? We are still downtrodden and abused every single day! Where is the change for the better?" the Rabbit shouted

"I don't know that we should talk about that, we haven't exactly been doing all that well ourselves on that score." Muhlama's father pointed out.

"He's got the Wizard's blood! He's liable to betray us—" General Kynot began again.

"Enough is _enough_!" Raye exclaimed at this indignantly "He is _not_ on trial! Why are we even in this room anyway, General? The entire chamber is necessary for _one_ asylum request? One might think that you are getting rather too fond of the décor." she raised an eyebrow challengingly. The glint of the light off her face at that moment seemed to highlight the scar that ran along one cheekbone. He again wondered where she had gotten that. She continued to speak in a clear challenge however. "Decide now. You shelter him or you don't. If you wish, I will remove myself from this Vote, General. No draws, no conflicts of interest. Satisfied?"

Rhonaraye and General Kynot did not appear to get along very well.

"With all due respect General, this is ridiculous. We all know that we have little choice about this, so why are we even here?" A Lioness demanded. "The boy _has_ to stay under our protection. It's in our own best interests. I vote yes. Plain and simple. Now _I _wish to go back to sleep at this un-Lurline-like hour."

The Majority of the council, all but two (excluding Rhonaraye, who true to her word exempted herself from the deliberation) agreed with the Lioness. General Kynot was a little grumpy, but otherwise had to go along with it. He had been out-voted.

"Very well. But he is not to have access to any restricted areas!" the Bird grumbled.

"No one's asking to initiate him into the council." The Mage retorted coldly.

"Not _yet_." Kynot snorted. The tension in the air was palpable, even the other council members looked uncomfortable.

"Are all parties satisfied?" the Ancient Elephant asked in her thundering rasp. She slowly swiveled her massive head to look at the Eagle and then at the young woman. Rhonaraye inclined her head graciously as she retook her seat. General Kynot on the other hand did not.

"Does it satisfy you, General Kynot?" The Elephant repeated.

"Yes, Princess Nastoya." He replied tersely.

"Very well. I call an end to these proceedings. This council grants Liir Wizantier asylum. We will reconvene tomorrow."

Various Animals wilted slightly at this and rolled their eyes, annoyed. Others merely shrugged as they began exiting. Liir's gaze zoned in on the young red-headed woman who stood in one swift motion and filed out of the room with the rest of them without having so much as glanced at him the entire time.

The young man shivered a little and was left there to wait a few minutes. He had not appreciated being talked about as though he were not there. He jumped at the sound of the gigantic doors opening a couple of minutes after the Council had left. He sagged a little in relief to see Dr. Akota standing there with Candle a little behind him. The Bear walked straight up to Liir and started to help him to his feet.

"Come on now." He said gently as he and his patient "Lets get you somewhere a little warmer. The cold is going to be murder on those breaks and stitches."

"Thanks." Liir murmured gratefully, wincing at the discomfort of the very effect that Akota had been talking about. "Where are we going? I mean…where do I stay?"

"Don't worry about that. It has all been arranged already." The Bear told him as they started to navigate their way through the halls. By the time they had cleared the room itself, Liir was able to limp on his own as the cramping mostly-healed muscles were stretched. He followed the doctor through the labyrinth of corridors and around mammoth sets of stairs that could rival those leading to his mother's tower. At one point he pretty much collapsed into the nearest chair at the foot of another set of stairs. He seemed to be in a sort of grand hallway or something. The marble stairs were even carpeted. In the back of his mind he was aware of someone coming up to Akota to talk to him and Candle.

"Take a breather. Wait here. I will be back shortly" Akota advised as the Bear gave him the blanket that someone had put around his own burly shoulders. Liir didn't argue. He was exhausted and freezing. He didn't realize quite how the former had affected him until he felt his eyelids drooping.

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_As Liir napped he had a rather strange, apparently random dream. He saw his mother in her tower room, except that she seemed to have renovated in a style that was very gothic, even for her. The window was covered with a black curtain that kept all the light out and the entire room was swathed in black cloth to the point where it looked like the interior of a strange tent. The Monkeys were in their usual space, but sat huddled together watching their human silently as she did such strange things. Liir also watched in his position as an invisible shadow as Elphaba rummaged through a trunk and withdrew a strange jar. _

_The green woman then pulled out a small looking glass, surprising the dream-watcher. Liir hadn't known that she even owned a mirror. He watched as she stuck her green hand into the jar and smeared purple paint around her eyes and nose before soaking her hands in the substance as well. She whispered a spell which dried it quickly and then took up a black piece of cloth to wrap around her head so that only the purple-smeared space around her eyes was visible._

_Elphaba then moved to the crystal ball and uttered a spell using a disguised voice. The ball glowed and the face of a Southstairs guard appeared. A conversation was carried out in which Elphaba in her disguised voice spoke of a prison escape that would be profitable for the guards should they decide to assist… _

888888888

Liir was awoken for the second time that day by a warm, wet nose and a lick with the great, shaggy dog once again panting in his face. The human squinted and shoved the large furry head out of his face, but nevertheless began to scratch behind Killyjoy's ears.

"What the…you again! So where's your little friend?" the young man laughed. At that moment a tall silhouette appeared at the other end of the hallway, looking for the dog. Liir didn't see her immediately as his back was to her.

"I've been here _how_ long? And already I'm starting to see a pattern here." The young man joked.

"I guess he likes you." A familiar voice said tentatively. Liir knew that voice. He would always know it. He froze in mid-scratch and turned in his seat, standing stiffly. Rhonaraye took a few more steps towards him out of the shadows, her long black skirts rustling slightly with the movement. She looked at him with their mother's startling silver eyes, uncharacteristically uncertain and cautious.

"Nari." He said. She nodded. He moved first but she met him halfway as they crossed the room and flung their arms around one another, each smiling behind the other's back at the wonderful reunion. They stayed like that for several minutes in a siblings' embrace. When they pulled apart it was once again Liir who broke the silence.

"Where are we? This place is amazing." He said. Rhonaraye let out a little laugh and shrugged to indicate their surroundings.

"This is Headquarters." She said "It's all shiny and new, relatively speaking." The dog barked to remind them that he was there.

"And who is _this_?"

"Oh, him." Raye grinned fondly as the animal plonked itself down at her side "This is Killyjoy. He's mine. Found him not long after I left the Emerald City. Some have taken to calling him my familiar."

"Well, is he?"

"Oh, not you too!" The red-head groaned with a roll of her eyes, though that didn't answer the question. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere you can lie down so that Akota doesn't lynch me."

"Nari, I'm fine! I want to see this place! No really, I feel like I could run a race." The last part was a blatant lie and his sister knew it. She raised an eyebrow

"Liir, your leg looks like it has fire Ants attacking it." She said, motioning to the way his healing leg was trembling a little.

"Okay fine. I'm tired." He conceded, "So why don't we go somewhere where there's a fire and catch up?"

"Sounds alright to me. You still have to make it up the steps though."

"Slave driver." He muttered in playful resentment.

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"So where exactly have you been?" Liir asked her twenty minutes later. They were sitting in two very comfortable armchairs by a fire place with Killyjoy lying by Raye's chair. Dr. Akota and Candle were across the hall. Liir had a thick quilt now wrapped around him, and enjoying a hot drink. "You never exactly shared with me in our little conversations before."

"I couldn't, Liir.' Raye told him "If it makes you feel better, there were times when _no_ _one_ knew where I was."

"You mean…you weren't on missions for the resistance or something?" the young man asked, his brow furrowing with confusion. The redhead shifted uncomfortably in her seat and examined her own cup.

"No." she replied "Not all the time. Certainly not at the beginning." She cleared her throat and brightened in a manner that did not convince Liir. "But enough about me. I want to hear what my brother's been up to."

Liir was not about to let her get away with that, though. She had not said anything about herself and he quickly tiring of secrets. He was about to point that out when something she had said snagged his attention and he finally asked the question that had been bugging him for years.

"Wait a clock tic, I have to know something." He said "I know how _I_ know that we're twins, but how do you know? You've obviously known for a while judging by those little conversations we had in our heads over the last few years, but how did you find out?"

"That's a bit of a complicated story…" Raye began; trying to re-direct, but Liir was not to be swayed this time.

"Nuh uh, sis. How did you know? And why were you off _everybody's_ grid at times?"

"You're not going to give up until you hear this one, are you?" his twin asked. The young man smiled a lop-sided smile and shook his head. Raye worried her lip for a moment as she deliberated on her words. She met his gaze after a minute or two.

"I want to try something." She said, "Why don't I _show_ you why and how?"

She reached out with her mind and let down her mental walls just a fraction. Suddenly Liir's eyes went wide as he was transported to a strange scene from her past…

/Flashback/

_Liir/Raye was being lead through a long tunnel, flanked by a Rhino and a Hippo and clutching a wooden broom with white-knuckled hands, the wide brim of the strange black hat shadowing part of her face. They stopped in front of a large door and her/their two escorts pushed it open. Liir/Raye stumbled into a large court-like room vaguely similar to the one Liir had been in only a few hours ago. However, it was clearly not the same location and this time there were considerably more people in it and the assembled council was a little different in its members. The Munchkinland Woman was not there, nor was the Swan. Instead, an elderly munchkin was sitting in the spot of the woman and a Fox was there. There also appeared to be several observers in the seats. The council was still positioned on an elevated level to the little box that Raye had been shoved into._

_Raye received no chair as she faced this assembly. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her breathing felt abnormally loud to her. She struggled not to let it show of course, something that seemed to be instinct for her. However, she was also angry and didn't mind letting them see that. In fact if anything, she clung to that bubling rage._

"_Why have I been brought here?" Raye/Liir demanded, his/her voice stronger than s/he had dared hope. _

"_You of all people should know better than to ask that question." A Rabbit on the council said. _

"_Rhonaraye Throular," The Eagle, General Kynot stated "You have disobeyed a command from the Rebellion. You have neglected your duties, you have betrayed the resistance."_

"_I freed dozens, possibly hundreds in that mine!" Raye exclaimed defiantly, shocking the other occupants of the room with her outburst, for Kynot had not been finished talking._

"_You might have been instrumental in saving thousands!" The Bird snapped "Instead you chose to selfishly rebel and throw away a valuable opportunity for this organization, the Organization to whom you owe your very life, __**human**__!"_

"_Yeah that's right! That's all I am. A Two-legger with weird powers. A tool." Raye retorted snidely. _

"_You are a child of the resistance! We saved your life, we gave it to you! And this is how you reply, you ungrateful little traitor."_

"_I have replied with nothing but gratitude and obedience!" The redhead snapped, her voice echoing off the walls. She looked around the room with her startling silver eyes at those watching what was quickly appearing to be her trial. "All my life I have been nothing but your humble servant. I listened to what you had to say, each and every one of you who passed through my Guardians' cottage. I absorbed it all. I helped to hide you. I helped to sneak you out of danger and into safety. I studied what you decreed. I did the jobs you asked. I went to the school that you wanted me to. I am no traitor. I freed those slaves at the mine, why don't you ask them how I have betrayed you?" she demanded. "I have done everything you asked until this point. If anything, it is you have not been honest with __**me**__."_

"_You dare call us into question?" Kynot thundered_

"_YES!" Raye thundered back, almost literally as she lunged forward a step to grip the boards around what was apparently a testifying box. The earth beneath them rumbled in response to her anger. The people spectating let out little screams and exclamations at the sudden earthquake. They looked at the redhead with eyes wide with fear. Some of them pointed. Raye noticed this out of her peripheral vision and it stung. So even here she was just a freak. She wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had gotten to her as she continued to speak_

"_Yes, I question you." She told the council with a defiant tilt to her chin "Here are my questions. Who are my parents? What happened to them? __**Why**__ am I in your care? All my life each and every one of you sitting up there and a bunch of you sitting around here like this is a spectator sport," Her gaze zoned in momentarily on the White Tigress sitting in the front. Muhlama averted her gaze "have stressed to me how much I am in your debt. How I'm _so lucky_ that you were willing to take me in after 'what happened'. Well, __**what happened**__? Are you willing to tell me why the Vizier recognizes this broom? The broom that my guardians told me belonged to my mother?" she held up the scraggly-looking tool for them to see. She watched their reaction as some of the older occupants of the room stared at it with bulging eyes or shifted uncomfortably or muttered to each other. _

"_Enough!" Another on the Council, an aging Gorilla stated. "Rhonaraye Throular, you have disobeyed us and destroyed the mission you were sent out to accomplish. This is treasonous."_

"_Treason?" Raye repeated incredulously, angered by both their accusations and how her questions had been completely ignored "Do you hear yourselves? Do you hear who you are beginning to sound like? I have lived and loved this cause my entire life and I believe in it. Can you still say the same? Or is it just about power for you now?"_

"_This ignorant idealism is foolish and ill-informed. A child like you can have no way of understanding the gravity of the situation or grasp the political ramifications—"_

"_Maybe you need a few more idealists!" Raye retorted "Or maybe you just need a mirror." She made a throwing motion and a hand mirror materialized in the air to land in front of the council. _

"_If I'm such a hazard to you then __**fine**__. I'll save you the trouble of banishing me. I've had enough of this. I'm out of here. Anyone who wishes to join me is welcome." Liir/Raye paused, waiting with baited breath for someone, anyone, to stand and join her. She waited for someone to say something. Instead, all she heard were crickets. Not Crickets, crickets. Without another word the redhead pushed past the Hippo and Rhino and strode down the tunnel…_

Rhonaraye began to withdraw her presence and end the memory there, but Liir surprised them both by holding on to it. He didn't know why, but he felt that this next part was something that she shouldn't be hiding.

…_When Raye reached the end she saw the welcome silhouette of a certain Donkey. "Jack!" She smiled, embracing the thin Equine and then fixing his glasses for him. _

"_Raye, you left this." He said shaking off the satchel around his neck. It was hers, or rather, her mother's. She had taken it off for some reason or another before going in to meet the council. She had not relinquished the broom and hat obviously, but had taken off the bag to rub a knot out of her neck. Raye accepted the satchel and slung it over her shoulder. Her mother's mysterious satchel. Her mother's broom. Well, even if she knew nothing about her mother, she had these keepsakes now at least. Raye sighed but when she looked at Jack she had a hopeful (if forced) smile on her face._

"_Guess it's just you and me then, huh Jack?" she asked. Jack opened and closed his mouth several times, shifting uncomfortably and looking around for something to help him out. Rhonaraye's face fell "You're coming with me aren't you?" _

"_I…I can't Raye." He told her quietly. _

"_Why?"_

"_Mirisee." He began_

"_She can come too! Anyone who wants to can! I'd love her to come!" Rhonaraye said, desperation creeping into her voice._

"_Raye, no." Jack said with firm regret. He opened his mouth as if to say something more but was cut off by his friend._

"_But-but I saved your life!" she sputtered incredulously "I saved your life and your girlfriend and helped you both get your freedom! I gave up one of the highest positions in Oz, my position in the rebellion and perhaps even my education to save __**you**__!"_

"_Raye, you don't understand, you're as good as banished, who knows when you'll be able to come back and I can't—" _

"_I see. So when it's __**you**__ that might have to move down the imposed social ladder I'm left up the river without an oar?" The redhead felt the tears pricking behind her eyes, an angry, hurt, and indignant flood. The earth was shaking again and a nearby bush spontaneously burst into flame._

"_That's not fair! Raye, please let me explain—"_

"_You've 'explained' __**enough**__!" the Mage said through clenched teeth as she pushed past him and fled, hopping onto the broom and taking flight mid-stride. She ignored Jack's yells after her and sped off into the sky, those tears breaking through to spill down her face and blur her vision. She didn't care. She just wanted to get away. _

_First the Vizier—fine. The woman didn't even know her. Then __**Liir**__. That one had hurt. But if she looked at it through a cold, calculating impartial lens, he had no more reason than the Vizier. All she was to him was a school friend, a tutor. She was nothing special. Then her guardians hadn't shown up even to watch her ordeal with the council. Well, they were probably in trouble for her defiance as well, and that was all her own fault. Then the Council had practically branded her a traitor and now her best and possibly only friend was abandoning her too? _

_But then, why __**should**__ Jack risk his own neck for her? He had his whole life ahead of him now. He had his mate, his freedom, he had both now. Why would he give it up to gallivanting off with her? She was just being selfish. And stupid. Why would any of them want to come with her?_

"Enough!" Raye snapped, shutting him out sharply and getting to her feet. After a few steps she whirled around on him "You weren't supposed to see that."

"I think that's why I had to." He said in concern. He had felt the way she turned her pain and anger in on herself, had felt how all too easy it was for her to do that. Still, she seemed to be on the very council that had been about to banish her before she beat them to the punch…

"But…you came back?" he asked

"That is a very long story. But yes. I did." There was a long pause as Liir allowed the memories he had newly acquired from his sister sink in.

"Jack didn't even go with you?" He asked quietly.

"He had a good reason." Rhonaraye whispered as her fingers ghosted around the rim of her mug, a distant look in her eyes as she sipped her drink quietly. Sensing that this was probably not a topic that he wanted them to discuss on their first time together in years, he changed the subject a little.

"So…how did you find out we were siblings?" he asked tentatively "I mean, mother told _me_…"

"And," Raye replied, her tone much lighter as he heard her open a drawer and then walked back around to his chair, holding out a piece of parchment to him "Our father told me."

Liir frowned a little, not quite understanding. The mage motioned towards the paper he had in his hands before taking her seat again. Her brother cocked his head a little, like a curious puppy and set to reading the paper. Raye could still remember the day she had first read it, just after her escape from the Emerald City and her departure from the Rebellion.

***between 3 and 4 years previously***

Just to make her day that much better, a storm had started building in the stratosphere. She probably could have stopped it with her powers, but at that moment she couldn't entirely rule out the possibility that she was in fact partially responsible for it. Miniature natural disasters had a tendency to form when she was upset and applying the description of upset to her current emotional state was the equivalent of comparing a breeze to a tornado.

The rain pelted down on her hard and the wind both tore at her quickly-drenching clothes and made flight difficult, particularly as she struggled to keep a hold of the black hat on her head. The fact that her glasses were fogging up to the point where she was effectively blind wasn't exactly helpful either. It eventually reached the point where the teenager simply had no recourse but to land. She dove down to find herself weaving and bobbing through the air over a rocky, barren-looking expanse. She had to fly in the freezing rain for several more minutes before finding a cave. Once she did find one, she made a bee-line for it.

Raye was fortunate in that it had not been occupied when she stumbled inside. She had enough of her senses about her to start rummaging in the satchel, the cold and damp making her hands and the rest of her body shake and her hair cling to her face. She still couldn't see much through her fogged-up glasses, but she could make out and feel the cloth of a long black wrap from the depths of the bag. She quickly pulled it around her quaking shoulders and scuttled back so that she was huddled against the cave wall. Cupping her hands in front of her face she blew out shaking breaths that seemed to ignite flame between her palms. She wasn't entirely sure how she was doing this—must have been instinct—but since it worked to at least warm her hands she really didn't give a damn as she rubbed her arms. After a while, when she no longer felt as though she were going to die from shivering so hard, the young woman took off the pointy hat and stared at it. Again she thought of her mysterious mother and hugged the unusual article of clothing close to her chest as she tried to calm herself. During this time she also took the time to clean up her spectacles.

When she put them back on and looked up, Rhonaraye noticed something half-in-half-out of the spilled bag, undoubtedly pulled out when she had rummaged through for something to warm herself. Frowning, the redhead reached over and pulled the envelope out and examined it. It was addressed…to her? Curious, the teenager broke the seal and took out the letter.

The first thing she noticed before even taking in a word was that it was in the Scarecrow's—Farro's—handwriting. Right down to the wonky 'w's and the minute scratches occasionally left by spare bits of straw sticking out of his glove-hands smearing the ink ever so slightly in spots. Then she began to actually read the words.

_Dear Rhonaraye,_

_If you are reading this letter, then the inevitable has happened, possibly in more than one way. What is most likely to have happened is that the Tin Man has managed to pull of the reunion that I have been working so hard to avoid. _

_Either way, I think it is well past time that you know. I don't know where to begin. Your mother was always the smart one, she always had a way with words—you'll understand why that is a little bit of an inside joke by the end of this letter. I suppose the easiest way to start, is with a story. Like the ones I would tell you when you were little, though we never had the heart (nor the clearance) to tell you this one. Hear goes nothing._

_Once upon a time, there was an intentionally brainless, scandalous Winkie Prince who was intent on simply dancing through life without a care in the world. He was kicked out of school after school after school as his parents tried valiantly to make him into the King that his older brother, who had fled and abdicated, refused to be. They were unfortunate in their sons. The Prince's name was Fiyero and it seemed that nothing in the world could tempt him to open the eyes he kept so stubbornly shut and truly look at the world around him. But then he met the woman who would change his life—and him—forever. _

_Her name was Elphaba. She was too smart for her own good, cared too much for her own peace of mind and looked too different for anyone to forgive her for it…_

The rest of the letter was devoted to telling the story of Elphaba and Fiyero's odd romance. Of the awkward love triangle with Glinda, Liir's Godmother and Elphaba's best friend, of the green woman's own disastrous meeting with the Wizard and her flight from the emerald city. It told of how she had become Oz's most wanted and a high-ranking member of the Animal rebellion. Essentially, it told the story of her parents right up to The demise of the Wicked Witch of the East—Raye's Aunt apparently— where her father had been turned into the scarecrow in Elphaba's—her _mother's_— bid to save his life. He had then written of how he had found her 2 years later and learned the fate of his lover and his son, Liir. Rhonaraye's twin.

…_And now you know. But the most important thing for you to take from this story is that your mother and I both love you and your brother. Neither of us ever stopped and ever will. No matter what happens to me, you need to know that. _

_I love you._

_Your father, _

_Fiyero Tiggular (Farro)._

The teenager felt a tear trickle down her face as she read the letter. That night she slept with the hat under her arm and the letter beneath her fingers.

8888 **Present time** 888

Raye watched her brother as he read the letter from Farro, gauging his reaction. When he'd finished he sat there blinking for a little.

"Wow." He finally said, "This is…more information about our parents' past then my mother has told me in my entire life, certainly more about my father than I've ever gotten."

"Yeah, it was more than Farro had ever told me before writing it too_."_ Raye sympathized.

"So where did you go?" Liir asked again, "It was like you'd disappeared right off the map! Even to me, and I was talking to you in our heads all the time…wow that really makes me sound crazy."

His sister chuckled and shook her head to reassure him that he wasn't crazy— on that matter at least.

"Actually I did once." Raye told him. "Go right off the map once, that is. It was a rather…unique time in my life." Her gaze became distant and melancholy as she recalled that trip, though this time Liir wasn't able to get anything from it, her mental shields against him remained firmly shut. After a few moments she snapped out of it "I've been…traveling. For a while I stayed off of everybody's radar to be quite frank. Decided to come back to Oz little less than a year later, I wasn't keeping much track of the time to be honest. Then…I came back. I didn't stay long, just long enough to visit some friends and family."

At the word 'family' Liir perked.

"Is our father here? Can I meet him?" he asked eagerly. He saw his sister's face fall and he had a feeling he knew the answer.

"No, he's not. We had no word of him for a long time. I had my ear to the ground for a while and searched personally, at least after I returned to Oz. I finally found him 3 years after the incident at Kiamo Ko."

Her brother nodded. She had told him through their telepathic conversations of the time when the Scarecrow had given her the broom and hat belonging to her mother. The redhead leaned back against her chair and raised her eyebrows in the memory of it

"He's in the South Stairs. I managed to get in, but I couldn't get him _out_. I was nearly caught by the Tin Man. In my spare time I've been trying to figure out a way to spring him without blowing up the building and making a bad political situation even worse, the Rebellion can't afford to be branded as terrorists, it would only harm the enslaved Animals in Oz."

Liir nodded.

"So…do much sight-seeing?" he asked teasingly, already knowing the answer. Raye grinned

"It's amazing the places you can go when you fly." She told him with a wry smile, glancing over to where her staff was leaning against the wall.

Rhonaraye had not been stingy on some of her more pleasant thoughts and memories. Some of them she had shared with him, mostly some of the incredible scenery. Through her eyes he had seen the heart-stopping beauty of vast expanses of rich forest both Ozian and exotic. He had seen a sea of golden sand rolling into graceful dunes and breathtaking mountains. He'd seen glimpses of the Thousand-year-Grasslands and the amazing spectrum of phosphorescent colours from within a dwarf mine.

He'd had the sense that someone was with Rhonaraye for at least part of the time, someone she had a growing affection for, but she hadn't gone into that. He remembered asking her about it. At first the mage had tentatively told him 'maybe' but that she was going to wait to see if it was anything serious before going into detail. Then later she had said 'yes' but didn't want to risk Liir with anything more than he already knew (she thought him to be in danger merely with his knowledge of her) but that she hoped he would one day meet this person. Later on she had still been with someone, but not the same person. Her feelings towards her new companion were different, but by no means any less potent. They were more protective with an undercurrent of constant worry and a growing swell of pride. His sister's continued conversation pulled him out of his musings.

"Not everything was about the sight-seeing. After I rejoined the Rebellion I continued to travel, but this time for Allies. The Animals have been struggling with this rebellion for longer than we've been alive. It's hard on them. Those that run away and are caught receive harsh penalties and we can't give them all asylum. Places like this help of course, but hollowing out mountains is difficult, trust me." She told him before sighing as diplomatic matters began to weigh her down, even in conversation

"We have Quadling country on our side, but they're on the brink of being taken over. We've started talking to the Vinkus, they've taken a few refugees. That should get easier with you around, I'll explain that later.' She added at his confused expression. "Also, I've been keeping an eye on a few foreign powers, like the Goblin King and his allies. We might not feel any form of loyalty to the Wizard, but his Majesty the Royal Pain-in-the-Neck would make life miserable for everyone, including Animals and those at the bottom of the heap, so to speak. Now," she leaned forward in her chair a little "Enough about me."

"No fair, I tell you, like, everything. At least you seem to know it all."

"That's because you don't know how to keep your thoughts to yourself!" Raye exclaimed with a laugh. "But there are plenty who can teach you that skill. You'll just have to practice it."

The chatted idly for a few more minutes before Liir finally asked her one of the questions that had been plaguing him.

"What's going on Nari?" He asked seriously, "I've seen the looks on those Animals' faces in the halls. They're scared. And they look like they waiting for the other shoe to drop or something." He said, looking her right in the eye. The Red-Haired woman sighed. She got to her feet and walked slowly over to the window, crossing her arms as she did so.

"You're perceptive Liir." She said after a moment's pause, watching the snow that had started to blow outside on the mountain peaks, "More then a normal person could ever be, or at least you could if you ever decided to stop trying to fight your gifts. You're an Oracle, remember?" she enquired, uncrossing her arms as she turned to look at him with that penetrating gaze of hers.

"Yeah, Mum told me. But I'm still not sure what it means." He replied, standing and walking over to her.

"Alright, listen. There are 4 kinds of what people call Readers. One is a person who can read the past, they see messages that no one but others like them can. Those are unusual, but not as rare as it's possible to be." She paused, and he nodded to show that he understood, so she continued "Then there are the ones who read the Present. They see the signs that are being left. They don't necessarily interpret or understand them, but they witness the message's making. Candle is one such person."

"Candle?" Liir enquired, shocked.

"Yes, Candle." She replied, unphased by his surprise "Then there are those who read the future. Fortune telling and Prophecies, only genuine. And finally, there's the rarest Reader. One who reads all three. Past Present and Future are open books to him or her. They are called Oracles. And you are one Liir. You'd be a damn good one too if you'd stop fighting it, if you only stopped trying to be ignorant of everything that upsets you." Raye finished sharply

"I do _not_!" he sputtered

"You can't lie to _me_ Li." She said as she turned to face the window once more and crossed her arms again.

"I'm a mage, not an Oracle. But I can predict one thing." She seemed to be talking to no one in particular, "There's a Storm coming Li. It's gathering its winds, its rain, it hail, its snow. Its going to hit soon and not everyone is going to survive it." She said darkly.

* * *

**Usual request, please review. **

**SunRise19**: Thank you! Happy holidays!

**FriFro**: Thank you :). I've been PMing lizziemagic and elphieT about it, so far the final contender is Zoorthion or perhaps Xorthion. Whatcha think?

**PurpleReader29**: huh, You;re right! That was actually not intentional, I guess that story has sucessfully made its way into my subconscious, because looking at it, you are very much correct. Oh well. Sorry about that. Too late now. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**lizziemagic**: Thank you! How'd you like the additional scenes?

**elphieT**: There were more Son of a Witch influences here, did you like them? Actually, before you answer that, I'm just going to say that I don't have anything against the character of General Kynot or anything, he was just kind of convenient for a potential theme later on, being a general and all. You'llsee what I mean later.


	25. Part 2 Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I own nothing. **

**A/N: Hm. I wanted to say something, but I can't remember what it was at the moment. Whatever, It'll come eventually. Anyways, please read and review.**

**Part 2 chapter ****8**

_There's a Storm Gathering Li. It's collecting its winds, its rain, it hail, its snow. It's going to hit soon and not everyone is going to survive it._

Rhonaraye's words followed her brother echoed ominously in his mind. The two of them had called it a night after she had said that and the young man had found himself being lead out of the room and into the smaller apartment next door.

Perhaps it was such dark and pessimistic predictions that conjured up one of his more frightening recurring dreams…

He was never positive whether or not this particular vision was of the past, or the future. It couldn't be the present; it had recurred too often over too long a period of time. He was never sure whose perspective this one was from either these days.

_He was running, searching through the wreckage for someone he loved. Where was she? He felt certain that if he didn't find her, she would die! He couldn't let that sadistic creep hurt her again! She'd been through too much. _

_He ran through the halls of the old castle. Where were they? He didn't know what was going on, or even who he was looking for, just that he had to stop something…to save someone…_

_Finally he flung open a door…and was tossed backward like a rag doll in the explosion that met him…_

_Dream-logic—He was stumbling through the wreckage, still looking for someone. There were bodies, but not as many as should be expected for such an explosion. One he passed without caring, not even checking if it was dead._

_Another body, on the other hand seemed to break his heart. He tried to make it wake up; refusing to accept that it was a mere corpse now. No. This person would never, _could_ never be a corpse! He cared too much for that to happen, as did others. He placed his hand under the motionless shoulders and lifted the still form from the ground. The head lolled back unpleasantly and something warm dripped onto his trouser leg. It was blood._

Liir awoke with a strangled cry and then cursed himself. That dream became less and less clear all the time, which made him fear it all the more.

The next morning he found Raye "indisposed" (Probably in that council meeting) and decided to explore. He found that his injuries weren't as stiff as the day before, though he couldn't explain it. What he didn't know was that Rhonaraye and Akota had worked together on an additional means of assisting his rapid healing process by combining magic and medicine in his drink. Though even if he had known, he probably wouldn't care too much since it meant he could move without ache.

The stronghold was incredible. They had actually hollowed out a mountain, it was ingenious. His thoughts frequently drifted back to how changed his sister was, he particularly wondered about that scar on her cheek. Nevertheless, in spite of his more brooding thoughts he could still appreciate the architecture and the beautiful Mountain View.

He was just admiring said view from a window when he ran into a certain acquaintance.

"So." A Feline purred, "The Princeling has made his way to our humble abode." The white Tigress Muhlama chuckled.

"Your Highness." He said, giving her a bow. The Cat laughed at this.

"Well this is refreshing. What a gentleman you are." Though she chuckled, he somehow could tell that she was serious.

"Well, I did find out that you _are_ a Princess, my lady." he said in friendly mock-flirtation.

"Oh. That." Muhlama said with a roll of her large golden eyes. "It's not something I relish, personally." She told him as she turned away. "The council will be finishing its session momentarily. I was waiting for Raye to come out. Follow me if you want to meet her as well." He nodded and followed her.

"This place is like a maze." He commented as they turned their 4th corner.

"A maze? This place? Oh no. Your palace, now _that_ is a maze!" she replied playfully. They arrived at the same door Liir had entered the night before, only it was closed now. A dog was lying down just outside it, watching the motionless oak doors expectantly. Charlane chuckled.

"You can always tell when a meeting is nearly over." she said, "Killyjoy is ever faithful, although, where is your charge, Killyjoy?"

Just then the lanky Colt that Liir had met the day before jumped out from behind a curtain.

"BOO!" he cried before breaking down into a fit of giggles.

"Hello again!" The young man said as the little Mule rolled around on the floor. He remembered that he had seen a Horse sitting in the assembly and asked "Zachariah, right? Is your mum or dad on the Council too?"

Behind him Muhlama stiffened and moved forward as though about to say something when the Colt himself cocked his head as he considered for a moment and then replied

"Well…no. My auntie is though." He replied

"Well, what about your parents?" Liir asked. Muhlama slapped her forehead with her paw as Zach's expression faltered a little

"They're not here anymore. They're…gone."

"Oh." Liir said uncomfortably, finally understanding what he meant a little guiltily. "I'm…sorry."

"Zach?" A familiar voice asked from behind them. Both human and Mule looked round to see Rhonaraye standing there.

"Auntie Raye!" The Mule exclaimed joyfully as he clambered to his feet and bounded over to her "Can we go to the meadow now? Can we? Can we?" he cried, Killyjoy joining him in his cheery little bouncing circles around the young woman who was looking at the stunned expression on Liir's face. She opened her mouth and closed it several times before looking away from her brother and down at the Colt. She smiled.

"Alright." She said, nodding in the direction of the corridor "Come on." She held out a hand to him. The motion made Liir stiffen, not for the act, but for the hand. It was the first time he had gotten a clear look at it. Rhonaraye's right hand had seemed a little odd before, but he couldn't place why and hadn't thought anything to it, assuming it just to be the light but now he saw why.

Her fingers and palm, always slender and long like the rest of her, gave off the impression of elongation by the absence of the pinky. Where the smallest finger had once been there was now a long, ugly scar. Not even the knuckle remained by the look of it. It was as though someone had taken a cleaver to the side of her hand.

Zach didn't seem to think twice about the maimed appendage though. He let out a cheer and stood up on his hind legs to hold the offered hand as he and Killyjoy followed her at a jaunty trot.

Liir was left confused.

"What?" he asked in a daze.

"Well, obviously she isn't his blood-aunt." Muhlama said

"Still! _What_?" he repeated. The Tigress sighed.

"She's his Godmother." The Princess explained gravely "Zach's parents, Jack and Mirisee, well," (Liir felt the blood drain from his face) "They died a year or two ago. She is Zach's Guardian now."

"She didn't tell me." Liir said, "I mean, we spent hours talking last night and she didn't bring it up once."

"Of course not." Muhlama said with a dismissive shrug "She just doesn't completely trust you."

"_What_?" The young man exclaimed incredulously.

"Oh don't take it so personally. She doesn't trust anyone as far as she can throw them, especially if she wants to…except maybe for those two Bears and the Goat."

"I guess not." Liir muttered.

()()))(())(()))

Elphaba felt a mixture of exhilaration and fear as she waited for the South Stairs Guard to arrive. For the last few weeks she had secretly been making contact with this particular corrupt guard via crystal ball. She was, of course, wearing a disguise, as she had been through each communication: a scarf and hood covering her face and a shapeless robe that could be for either sex. What could be seen of her skin was meticulously dyed purple and her eyes had been darkened using drops.

Even though she was aware that it was she who was early, the Witch fumed at the amount of time she was made to wait! At long last, they arrived, but too many of them. She had contacted only one and there were four escorting the prisoner. Well, no matter. She had expected treachery. It had become a part of her life long ago. In fact, the fools had actually contacted the Vizier about it and it had been she who suggested they bring the actual prisoner with them to the exchange. Too bad they had decided to 'outwit' her. Now instead of payment they would go home with nothing but bruises.

"We agreed on you only." She said to the Guard she had talked with in her scratchy, disguised voice

"Well the deal has changed."

"Pity. You would have profited more from the old one." She rasped as she threw pellets to the floor which exploded into brightly coloured smoke. Through the confusion that ensued, Elphaba snatched up the scarecrow from his captors and leapt backwards with her lover.

"Elphie?" Fiyero whispered. She said nothing but dropped part of a page from the Grimmerie for them to find, as well as a defective smoke bomb. All the pieces would come together in the right order. If she had learned anything from her years in the Court of Oz, it was the art of deceit. With the smoke still obscuring the Guards' vision she pulled her lover into the woods and then twirled on the spot, transporting them both to a secret place she had prepared just for this occasion.

It was still dark and windowless, but she had managed to make it warm and airy without using any form of fire and everything from the floor to the ornaments was inflammable. She laid her pitifully light burden on a soft, specially-woven blanket. Fiyero barely had the strength to move, he had lost so much stuffing. She didn't remove her disguise, but went to the loose stone in the wall which was connected to a small chamber that held plenty of the finest straw. Withdrawing a sac of it, she approached the scarecrow and filled in some of the places where his stuffing had been let out. There was a hole in his sleeve. She should mend that. But first, Elphaba didn't think she could wait much longer even as she lit the torches with magic, white fire that didn't burn.

"Elphie-fae?" Fiyero whispered. He had managed to pull himself into a sitting position and was looking at her intently with hope, fear and longing in his eyes that called to her. With a deep breath and trembling hands, she pulled off the scarf covering her face and lifted the hood. As she turned to face him with eyes that reflected a lifetime's worth of tears left unshed; he felt his heart break and soar at the same time. It was _her_. _She_ had rescued him and now they could be together again. This lifted his spirits, but at the same time, even though to most she would look pretty good for her age, he could see how the years had taken their toll on her. The black hair now had strands of silver and there were crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, which in themselves held the look of long-borne weariness and sadness, except that now they shone with something else as well.

He didn't know how long they stayed staring at each other. It felt like an eternity and it felt like no time at all. But then, all of a sudden, they were in each other's arms and holding one another tightly.

"I'm sorry…I took…so long." Elphaba said joyfully in between kisses.

"It's been so long…I can't…believe I'm actually…holding you." Fiyero replied in turn, kissing her face as well. They were both crying by this time.

"Look at you!" Elphaba sobbed, pulling back a bit and reaching for the pouch of straw. He touched her emerald cheek with one glove-hand and wiped the tears away as she smiled at him and started re-stuffing him. She then conjured up a needle and spool of thread to start repairing the holes.

"Does it hurt?" she asked anxiously when she pulled the sharp point through his burlap body.

"I haven't felt physical pain years, Elphie." He reminded her. Suddenly, a strange look crossed his face "Elphie-Fae, what year is it?"

She told him. His cloth jaw dropped.

"Wow."

"How long were you in there?" Elphaba asked

"Nearly 4 years." He said with surprise. The green woman's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, looking down at her stitches. Gently, the scarecrow lifted her chin and kissed her again.

"You did the best you could to save my life. My only regret is that I couldn't spend the last 20 years of it with you." She tied off the thread and he took her into his arms again.

"But we're not being at all corny are we?" she asked him in a strained voice.

"Ouch. Not a good pun." He replied, thinking of the field in which he had been tied in.

"Sorry." She chuckled as she held him tighter. "I have to go for now. But I promise you, I'll find out how to free you from this curse!"

"Elphaba," he began but she cut him off

"Rest, you're safe here. Including me there are only 3 people who know this place exists, and all of us are willing to die before giving away where you are. But just in case you need to get out, there is a trick stone beneath your mattress that leads to a wood. I must go now." Then with great reluctance she extracted herself from his arms and disappeared before he could say another word. He wondered who else it was that knew his whereabouts.

(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)

Liir spent the better part of the day trying to think of what to say to Rhonaraye. He should have figured it out; he was an Oracle after all!

On the other hand, how was he supposed to have known? Why the hell did she keep so many secrets, anyway? And if it happened two years ago why the hell was she still so sensitive about it? Soon anger overcame guilt as these thoughts took over, mainly in self-defense. Not only did he not like being wrong, he wasn't overly fond of guilt either.

"She could have told me." He muttered to himself resentfully in his room later that day. He'd discovered that Raye had taken Zack to this 'meadow' or whatever. Now all he was sulking and brooding on one of the chairs in the hallway "He was my friend too."

"Re-e-eally?" An unfamiliar, bleating voice inquired from the other end of the room. Liir sat up and looked at the doorway, in which an ancient-looking Goat stood. He was walking shakily with a cane, his spine bent with age. He hobbled in.

"Good Morning, my name i-is Dr. Dillamond." He said in a voice that quavered slightly. He sat down in the chair by the window, his front hooves still resting on his cane as he looked at the young man in front of him with (what looked like to him) a critical eye.

"Dr. Dillamond? You mean- you mean you're…"

"Yes. I was your parents' teacher and your sister's."

"You raised her." Liir said. The old Goat nodded

"I raised her, ye-e-es. Come young man, walk with me." The professor said as he hobbled down the corridor away from the window Liir had been gazing out of, leaning heavily on a walking stick. The young man followed him.

"Dr. Dillamond, can I ask you one thing?"

"Only one thing?" Dillamond teased "Why, if that is the case it appears that you didn't inherit your mother's curiosity."

"Okay, maybe more than one thing, but can I?"

"I'm a teacher. Of course you may."

"What's happened to Raye? I mean, she was never a bundle of laughs, exactly, but now…"

The old Goat's face fell.

"Ah. Yes." he said with a sigh "Well, if you a-a-ask me, she had to grow up far too fast…and I don't think that I helped in this case. It has been coming on for a while.

"You se-e-e-e, Liir, I am a Univer-ersity Profe-e-e-essor. I-i-I am accustomed to young adults—some more mature than others of course, but a-a-adults nonetheless. Consequently, I treated my young student as an adult rather than a child more often and she lived up to it by acting responsibly and with respect. But then people from the Rebellion would often pass through our house when she was growing up and not all of them were very kind to her. They seemed to think she should grow up quickly, and many of them felt she owed them something and made no attempt to be subtle about it. She had a great amount of responsibility put on her from su-u-uch a young age, even a-a-at home. Oh, Ralmila and your father and I never intended for that, but she a-a-always knew when we-e-e were worried, which was often.

"None of u-us were pleased when the rebellion told her to apply to that school and start her work for them. She hadn't been exposed to her peers nearly enough, and that was our own fault but she wanted to go. And of course that blew up, the Rebellion reacted badly, she ran away, everything happened with that young man,"

"Young man?" Liir cut in, "What young man?" The Professor paused a moment, both verbally and physically. Then the young man changed his mind "Never mind. What else?"

"Well, then tha-a-at poor Donkey and his mate died and she wa-a-as left with the care of her Godson. I-I-I must confe-e-ess that I wa-as glad for more than one reason to ha-a-ave you hear, for I intend to enlist you as an ally."

"An Ally?" Liir asked in confusion. The Goat nodded.

"I-I-I fear that the stress of it all will do her great harm. I don't care how strong of mind or bo-ody or ma-a-agic she is, no one ca-an keep up the pace she is setting for long. Liir, she i-i-i-is the youngest me-e-ember on tha-at Council by several years, she might even have started _that_ e-e-even earlier if Princess Nastoya had had her-er-er way and if Raye had not fled. Bu-ut no-o-ow, here she i-i-is. No-ot yet twenty and saddled with the magical defe-ense and offense for an entire, sca-a-attered organization, is up at all hours with that Council. She is often the fir-ir-irst one sent out on damage control when they ne-e-e-eed it since she _is_ such a young and powerful member of tha-a-at Council, ha-a-as been on more missions to the outside world and ha-as gone to me-eet more potential allies, with or withou-ou-out other council members due to tha-at power of flight she has. On top of all tha-at she is trying to care for a-a-a young chi-i-ild."

"Conspiring against me again, Doctor?" Raye's voice echoed sarcastically as she rounded a corner with Jack and Killyjoy at either side of her. The little Mule looked very sleepy indeed, leaning against his godmother with his eyes closed, almost asleep on his feet. Raye's tone became a bit terse. "How many times have I told you that _I can handle it_? At least if you and Ralimla can help with Zach sometimes."

"Raye," Doctor Dillamond began

"And will you _please_ stop blaming yourself?" she pleaded wearily. With a sigh she opened the door they stood outside and lead her sleepy charge inside, Killyjoy preceding them with his tail wagging slowly. Liir exchanged a look with the Goat and then followed.

At the sound of the door closing behind him Raye turned. She knew he why he was there and she knew that she owed him something. He had cared about Jack too.

"Let me put Zach to bed." She said quietly. It wasn't a request. He nodded and waited as she took the little Mule in through one of the doors to another room in the suite. Damn it was cold! It seemed that she had forgotten to light the fire. He saw her exit the room briefly to open a chest and retrieve some blankets and then returned through the same door, closing it behind her. The second time she exited she carried only one blanket, tossing it to her brother.

"Not a fan of fires?" Liir asked

"Not particularly. I had one for you last night because you were so cold. I put them on for Zach on occasion."

"I-I guess growing up with a scarecrow you didn't have that many fires." He supplied a little awkwardly.

"No." she replied shortly

"Just not used to it?"

"Just not a fan." Raye stated. Liir closed his eyes. This was getting him no where. He decided to cut straight to the point.

"I'm sorry about Jack. I know how much he meant to you and I'm sorry if I was…insensitive before."

"Wasn't and isn't your fault. You had nothing to do with it and you didn't know." She said, fixing her gaze on nothing in particular as she cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Zach's the reason you came back, isn't he?" her brother enquired

"Yes."

"Well, you and Jack obviously patched things up." Liir said hesitantly.

"It shouldn't have needed patching up. I didn't listen to him. Like I said, he had a good reason to stay. You see, Jack and Mirisee were together before he was sold to the school. It was his first year at the Academy too. By the time we went to the E.C halfway through second term, 4 or 5 months into the year, she was as many months pregnant. Jack didn't know until we busted her out. That's what he was trying to tell me when I asked him to with me after that first disastrous council appearance."

Liir nodded.

"If you don't mind my asking," He began hesitantly, "How did he die?"

There was tense silence. His sister looked all around the room, anywhere but at him until she finally settled on examining the hem of her dark blue dress.

"It was my fault." She finally confessed in a small voice, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "We were just coming home. I'd come back a few months previously and Princess Nastoya had asked me to join the Council. Mirisee had had Jack's Foal while I was gone, I missed it. For some reason they made me the Godmother anyway. I was in and out all the time, even those first few months back, but I still did my best to make time for my best friend. Mirisee and I quickly became friends too."

Liir suddenly received an image of a beautiful Black Mare and an all-too-familiar Donkey with what he could only assume was a younger version of the Mule Colt on long, spindly legs. He listened carefully as his sister continued.

"Jack wanted to come with me on a short trip, you know, some quality time with his old B.F." she gave a sort of teary laugh "Mirisee asked me to get him out of her mane. I was going to take her on the next trip." All pretext of a smile vanished.

"It wasn't a long journey. A few days at most, and I'd left everyone else in what I thought was good hands. On the way home we stopped by an empty _safe house_ (_she spat out the words_) to sleep. I was tired, I was lazy, I didn't check for signs of a trap, I didn't check for anything lurking, I didn't look to see if it was booby-trapped…I just _didn't_. What did I do? I just passed out on the bloody couch! Next thing I know, Jack is trying to wake me up and there's smoke everywhere. The place is on fire and the door has been locked from the outside. I can't see, I can't breathe, I can hardly think. All I can do is hear Jack trying to get me to use my powers to stop the fire. I try, I can't. We try to open the door, no dice, like I said it's been bolted from the outside. Even the windows seem to be sealed. It It's the perfect murder. We can't get out, we die in a fire and the whole thing is passed off as an accident.

"But then a window _does_ break from the outside and Mirisee charges in to the rescue. The rest is a bit of a blur. A beam falls between us. There's screaming, I try to pull it off them, searing pain, I black out." She said quietly, but clearly. Liir felt numb. It was hard to hear it, but it had to be harder to recount it. But he knew there was more.

"What else?" he asked. Her sliver eyes snapped up to meet his. Now it was his turn to do a little elaborating "Raye, I felt it. A couple years ago I woke up in the middle of the night screaming in pain. I was writhing for days. I got all sorts of images and scenes and emotions and thoughts….they were all jumbled and confused…Raye you're still not telling me everything!"

"And I'm not going to!" The red head told him with a vehemence that surprised both of them. "Liir, please don't ask me about that. Look, all you need to know is that it wasn't pretty. Nothing about this mess that doesn't even have the decency to call itself a war _is_ pretty."

"I never said it was. I just want you to help me understand."

"I can't." She snapped, striding past him in a sudden huff "Pull up a chair, read a book, go look for someone to play cards with, do what you want, Liir. I'm going to bed."

With that, the redhead opened the door that presumably lead to her room and slammed it shut. Liir groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. Rhonaraye bottled things up too often and far too seriously, that much he already knew from their time together at school—but this was getting absolutely ridiculous.

"So _this_ is what its like to have a sister." He muttered to himself sarcastically "Now I know why so many people dream of being an only child."

* * *

Please leave me a review. Speaking of...

**twilighterj4eva**: I really want to tell you, but that would give it away whether I said yes or no...so please, keep reading. You'll have your answer soon!:)

**FriFro**: Thanks! Here's some Elphie for you in this chapter;).

**lizziemagic**: thank You! South Stairs didn't really get updated that much, though I might even go back here AGAIN and do that over, but I'm not making any sort of promises there. If I do I will let you guys know, dont worry. I'm glad you liked the letter, it made the story flow better and I thought it would be better if the parents told their kids rather than just kind of having a random explanation/recap scene with Doctor Dillamond (I still love the old Goat, but I rather liked this conversation better. It does more to sort of advance things and delve into character motives and stuff).  
Yes, the person she was proud of was Zach, the Mule. You'll find out who the romantic interest is in time, don't worry. I hope you had a good holiday too, thank you!

**elphieT**: Cybercookies are very cyberlicious, thanks! Would you like some cybergingerbread?;). Happy Holidays! There is definitely more to learn, and you got a little more here, right? It will be all unfolded eventually. Enjoy.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!


	26. Part 2 Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**Alright, so HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Here's a chapter for you guys! Enjoy! See you all in this brand new year of 2011! Also, warning, there is some swearingin this chapter.**

**Part 2 chapter 9**

Liir did not sleep particularly well that night. For once it was not dreams that were the enemy of his rest, it was the hard wooden bench numbing his backside and the even harder wooden table that he just couldn't get comfortable on. His arms weren't a very good pillow either and the cafeteria was cold. He could have gone to bed, but hadn't been able to sleep there so he had wandered…and gotten lost.

Eventually Liir Wizantier had found himself here in the lousy cafeteria. He swore it was modeled after that thing masquerading as an eatery at the Academy. He had spent hours flicking a pen of some kind down the length of the slightly angled table and watching it roll back towards him with a clattering sound only to repeat the motion as he mulled over the conversations he'd had with his sister, both telepathically and in person. He thought about what he knew about Candle and the Rebellion and what had happened in the past eventful years.

His sister had been in love. He was sure of it. But something had happened. She had gotten hurt, in more than one way. Liir had felt it all too vividly and _loudly_. The story had been put out that he had been struck with some kind of brain fever at the time, but he knew exactly what it was, especially after the incident in the clearing. Rhonaraye had been trapped in that fire and had been rescued, but not by the Rebellion. She had been tortured. Liir could remember that pain all too well. From that point on Liir had increased his efforts to figure out a way to escape and find her again. But on reflection….he had been struggling to find her, yes. But also to find himself ever since she left. He had been questioning a great deal; His Grandfather's policies, Morrible's motives, his relationship with Annette and even his sexuality. The jury was still out on that last one. He'd had an intense crush on a dashing young man named Trism the previous year, but now he felt feelings for Candle developing. Was it possible to like boys _and_ girls?

It was on these thoughts that his head had slumped down onto his arms and he had eventually drifted off.

The next thing he was aware of was someone saying his name

"Liir? Liir?" someone hissed tentatively.

"What?" he moaned, opening his eyes blearily, he still wasn't accustomed to waking up early. He was more of a night owl. He would take graveyard shifts and sleep past noon. Blinking several times he saw that it was Candle standing nervously on the otherside of the cafeteria table.

"Candle!" he exclaimed, sitting up. She recoiled, "No! No wait, I'm sorry!" He always felt so light-headed and nervous when he was around her, and didn't like that she was still so scared of him. Since he had arrived, he had made sure to dress in strictly civilian clothes and even stayed away from the colours of Gale Force, hoping that by distancing himself from the organization, she would lose her anxiousness of him. Not much luck yet.

"Rhonaraye is planning on an excursion. I have a feeling it is one that…will drain her. She will need help even if she won't admit it. You want to go with her, don't you?" she asked quietly.

"Yes! How did you— of course. You read the present." He said, adding "You're amazing Candle." Everyone liked a compliment and she really seemed to still need confidence boosters. To his delight she seemed pleased and then said,

"She and Killyjoy are leaving within the half-hour. You might wish to hurry." She told him. Liir groaned. It was way too early and his injuries, while by no means crippling or as bad as they had been a few days ago, were still stiff and a bit achy. Candle kept several meters of space between them but lead him to where he needed to be.

He arrived just in time to see Killyjoy strapped to Rhonaraye's back in a sort of sling. Candle slipped away as soon as she saw that her work was done and that they had caught the mage before she left.

Rhonaraye was wearing brown gloves, a dark green-and brown dress, a long black cloak and a black scarf which she was adjusting over the bottom half of her face and around her neck. Her deep red hair was swept up in a bun at the back of her head. As he walked out further onto the platform he realized why. It was freezing cold! The air was thin too.

"You're up early." She said pulling up her hood, "Don't you usually refuse to get up until about ten-o-dragonclock?"

"Candle said you were heading out and I'm curious about where you're going, about why you're sneaking off." He said.

"I 'sneak off' -as you call it- so that I don't have to argue with certain people for an hour about bringing all sorts with me! I take Killyjoy because he pines about being left alone and makes a fuss. Not only that but he is a great help." She said, pulling her gloves on a little more snugly.

"What about Zach?"

"Doctor Dillamond is watching him."

"Alright, but let me come with you this time." Liir suggested, expecting an argument. However, to his surprise she merely shrugged and flicked her hand outwards. A cloak materialized in midair and flew at him. He caught it and started wrapping it around himself quickly, wondering at his sister's annoying unpredictability.

"You've really mastered that summoning charm." He commented.

"Practice makes perfect. You can come if you want, but you won't like where we're going."

"Don't care." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. Try getting yourself that scarf Akota gave you. Go on, try it." She encouraged. Liir pulled a face

"I was never very good at these."

"Well hurry up or I'm leaving without you."

"Fine." He grumbled. His attempt was less impressive. He only ended up with half a scarf but still managed to get it around once and tie it clumsily.

"Come on then." Raye said as she straddled the long staff. He followed suit. The two of them somehow managed to fit without being too crowded with enough space between them that Liir could grip the wood like she did. They actually looked like they were on some sort of weird tandem-bicycle with Killyjoy sandwiched between them.

"Hold on." She muttered to him before leaning forward and kicking off.

The flight on the mage staff was infinitely better than it had been on the stupid Rug. For one thing, he was fully conscious and for another there was minimal jostling. This was much smoother. They seemed to glide rather then fly, floating through the clouds and getting wet as they did so. Even when they sped up it was pleasant. His sister was an excellent flyer. Now he couldn't wait to try a broom—or maybe a staff— of his own.

They finally dove down out of the cloud cover to glide as silently as an owl over an all too familiar patch of forest. Without an explanation to him Raye reached behind her back and undid a clip on the strap that held the large dog to her back. When they were about 5 feet from the ground Killyjoy leapt gracefully off and landed in the grass.

They continued deeper into the woods, twisting and turning on a path that didn't seem to lead anywhere. He could see that something was bothering her and that it was getting worse. Every once in a while she craned her neck to the side and roll her shoulders as though hearing a loud and painful sound, or she would jerk as though trying to shake something off, as though her skin were crawling.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "What's happening?" She could clearly still feel whatever was bothering her.

"We're close…" she murmured as she pulled the scarf off her face, stopping suddenly and turning to face him, her silver eyes connecting with his brown ones.

"Remember how I said you weren't going to like where we're going?" she said. He nodded cautiously. She sighed and combed her long fingers through her long crimson hair. "Well this is why." Turning back around she swept her palm in front of her in a commanding gesture. The trees and shrubs obliged her by turning themselves, twisting ever so slightly to create a clear, if narrow, pathway that lead to an all-too familiar clearing. As the pair of them walked through it, the young man noticed that the plant life eased back into their regular positions.

"What are we doing in here?" Liir asked as they stepped into said clearing, watching her push her staff into a tree. It seemed to melt into the wood, literally becoming one with the plant. The sight made his eyes bulge and he knuckled them to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or something.

"I'm here to try and repair some of the damage that was done to this forest a couple months ago. I don't know how much of it you remember, but I had to fight a battle with another mage when I rescued you. It left a wound here that was greater than I thought and it's festered. I have to heal it. I have to set things right." Rhonaraye said.

"Why?"

"That's part of what being a Mage is. It comes with responsibility."

"Doesn't everything?" Liir muttered sardonically. The redhead pointedly ignored this statement and walked around the clearing.

"What are you going to do?" Liir asked a little worriedly.

"I'm going to meditate." She told him distractedly as she took off her gloves, the scar on her four-fingered hand catching his eye again, as did the scar along her cheek as she paced around absently. "Then I'm going to perform a Mage working. It's complicated and would take too long to explain. You stay here, out of sight with Killyjoy and keep an eye out for anyone coming our way. Make as little sound as possible. When I'm done I'll take you home."

With that she sat down gracefully with her cloak and skirts flaring around her. Her silver eyes closed and she took several deep, calming breaths. Her hands rested on her knees, index fingers touching her thumbs. After a few seconds her skin started to glow, or parts of it did. Points of emerald light flashed across her features to form glittering swirling markings on the skin of her cheeks, forehead, neck and hands. At least, that was the flesh that he could see. Loose strands of crimson hair blew around her face as the ground beneath her also started to glow. It too spread in intricate patters, this time from where she was sitting outwards.

Unconsciously Liir took a step back as the glowing marks approached him, nevertheless he was enchanted by them.

"Whoa." He breathed. Killyjoy huffed in what he could have sworn was a long-suffering manner as he laid his head on his paws. Suddenly the dog perked and leapt to his feet, sniffing the air. He growled and whipped around, tearing off into the forest.

"Killyjoy!" Liir hissed tearing after the canine, "Killyjoy!" he tried to follow the dog for several minutes, managing to get himself well and truly turned around in the process.

"Oh. This is great." He muttered "Where's that stupid dog? I swore I had a better sense of direction than this."

"You do." Liir whipped around in a fighting position at the sound of a new voice from behind him. He was poised for an attack but instead saw a young man about his own age lounging against a tree a few feet away. He was kind of good looking actually. Tall and trim, he had slightly wavy shoulder length light brown hair framing a face with chiseled features and a strong jaw. His eyes were the most captivating though. They were a most unusual, bright, hypnotic gold. He was wearing a long-sleeved tunic under a leather vest, black breeches and boots. In short, he looked, well, _cool_. His voice was even a smooth tenor as he continued to talk

"Sorry about that. I might have shifted the forest around a bit, but I wanted to talk to you alone and this was the only opportunity I've had. Oh, here. Found this." The stranger said as he tossed something to Liir. The young man caught it on reflex and looked down at what he was holding. It was his father's sword in its ornately marked scabbard.

"Who are you?" Liir demanded.

"You don't know me? Rhonaraye didn't tell you anything?" the man asked carefully.

"She doesn't tend to, no." Liir replied guardedly as he slowly lowered his hands and therefore the sword, unsure of what to make of this man. To try and gauge this, he changed the subject. "You didn't by any chance see a rather large dog come charging through here, did you?"

"You mean Killyjoy?" The man asked. "No. I didn't. But then, that was intentional. I wanted you all to myself for a conversation, remember?"

"Alright…I'm listening." Liir said slowly. "Who are you?"

"My name is…" he paused as though considering something, which made Liir suspicious "…Tristan. I'm, well I suppose even she would admit that I'm a colleague of your sister's."

"A colleague?"

"Yes, a colleague. But at the same time, so much more." Tristan said as he pushed off from the tree and began to circle around the other young man slowly "You see, I love her. But she's angry at me, and you of all people know how she can hold a grudge."

"Huh. That's true." Liir muttered with a roll of his eyes as he started to clip the sword scabbard back into its rightful place. The act made something click in his mind however, much more quickly than it might have in the past.

"Hang on," he said "How did you get my sword? There's no way you just found it in that clearing, not if everything left of Glinda's caravan is gone." Tristan looked up, startled. Clearly he hadn't expected this so quickly. The sight of those golden eyes jogged something from Liir's pain-hazed memories of his 'interrogation'…

...flashback...

"_Well, well, well. What have we here?" a smooth male voice inquired. This voice was one that Liir felt he might know, but couldn't place it. Well, why should he? He'd only heard it in dreams. His sister on the other hand, knew it all to well. She recognized even the outline of the tall man wearing robes of a hard, unyielding grey approaching Liir/Raye in a slow, confident stroll. _

"_And who…are you supposed…unnh…to be?" Liir/Raye coughed. _

"_Well. A strong one. Shame. Makes the whole thing longer and far more painful for you my friend." The newcomer said with a sigh_

"_I'm no 'friend' of yours." _

_The newcomer suddenly moved in closer so that his features were more visible to Liir's blurring vision. What might otherwise have been rather handsome features were drawn and pale like harshly carved stone. Eyes that were a startling, almost unnaturally golden colour bored into Liir's…_

_...end of flashback..._

"_You_…" Liir breathed, eyes wide. He pulled his father's sword from the scabbard and held it in an aggressively defensive stance. "_**You**_!"

"Now, I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this. Please Liir, no one's looking to hurt you—"

"Don't patronize me! You and your flunkies tortured me and attacked my sister! You're gonna pay for that!" Liir snarled as he charged the other man. Tristan sighed and snapped his fingers. Suddenly the young Oracle cried out and was forced to drop the sword when the handle suddenly burned in his hands. However, while it had been uncomfortable, his palms were undamaged

"I didn't attack your sister, she attacked _me_. I would never cause her pain!" The mysterious Warlock stated harshly before softening "Not on purpose…I mean, accidents have happened, yes, but I really, really regret those—"

"Shut _up_." Liir said as he made a throwing motion with his hand and yelled out a spell. He may not have been the most gifted student in his family, but with relatives like his that didn't mean he didn't possess skills with the arcane arts. He had been studying privately with the Emerald Vizier after all. The hex was strong enough to knock Tristan off his feet, but not enough to knock him out like it should have. The golden-eyed young man sat up quickly and wiped at the corner of his mouth where he bled, as though someone had decked him. At that moment more people burst from the bushes and Liir recognized the Bounty Hunters.

He scrambled backwards. One of them raised a club like weapon when suddenly vines shot out of nowhere to seize said club and yank it out of the thugs grip at the same moment that roots erupted from the ground wrap around Liir's legs and pin his arms to his sides, toppling him so that he lay on his side on the ground.

"He is not to be harmed!" 'Tristan' yelled in a commanding tone. Bind him, capture him, contain him. That is _all_."

"Well that's a change from last time!" Liir growled, struggling against his bonds on the ground.

"Last time I didn't know who you were, and I'm sorry about that, I truly am."

"Yeah, _right_." The other young man drawled

"Yes, I _am_. A blow to you is a blow to her. And I won't have that. I can't. I'd never hurt her."

"You already have. Several times." Rhonaraye's voice sounded coldly through the thicket, creating an eerie echo. There was a rumbling sound and the ground shook as what looked to be a large bud emerged through the ground. The roots entangling Liir suddenly yanked themselves back gleefully, allowing him to unsheathe his sword again.

The pod exploded open to reveal Rhonaraye inside, her deep red hair blowing in the twister that was quickly forming around her to lift her off the ground. Her eyes were open, but weren't their usual silver, instead they were pools of near-blinding light with wisps of colour floating across the glow. The markings on her face and hands were not only radiating power and light themselves but they were _moving_. In short, Raye was terrifying. However, the object of her stare, this man calling himself 'Tristan' simply stared back.

"_You go too far, Xorthion!" _Raye said in a voice that was not her own. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Hers was the core vocal pattern but others seemed to be layered over it to create a strange and intimidating effect of several people speaking as one.

"Ah." Tristan—Xorthion—whoever the man was stood and dusted himself off said. As he did so it was like he was dusting off the illusion he had placed on himself and it fell away, leaving a man who, while similar to 'Tristan' was much paler, his light brown hair darkened to a shade nearly as black as Liir's and sheared much closer to his head. His forester clothes were replaced with long iron-coloured robes. Only his eyes remained the same, strange gold.

"I was hoping to have a little more time with your brother first." He said.

Raye dropped down the few feet in the air she had been hanging, the wind leaving her hair and her eyes were returning to (her) normal. She reached her hand into the nearest tree (quite literally with the flesh seeming to melt into the wood) and yanked out her staff.

"And I told you to stay away from him."

"Raye, Please. I didn't know he was your brother!" Xorthion pleaded

"And that's supposed to make it _okay_?" The redhead demanded in cold disbelief. "You tortured him!"

"I had no choice! I was ordered to get information!" he shouted, one of the nearby bushes spontaneously igniting.

"There's _always_ a choice!" She bellowed back, a sharp gust of wind blowing out the fire.

"Oh and you wouldn't follow your precious Rebellion like a lamb to the slaughter if they bade you!" he shot back. "That's what started all this, remember?"  
"Don't you dare pin all this on me!" Raye yelled. Her lip curled in apparent disgust and she gave him a look that made even the trio of remaining bounty hunters pale before saying darkly "And you wonder why I hate you."

Xorthion looked taken aback and hurt.

"You don't mean that." He said quietly. The look she was still giving him rather contradicted that statement. Even the other mage seemed to get that message for he made a snatching motion with his hand and an uncompromising white staff materialized in his fist.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it!" He growled,

"Well I'm glad you're finally getting the message!" She retorted snidely. With that they both shot into the air.

"HEY!" Liir yelled up to the air, "What about me?" they had left him to face three of the bounty hunters to face armed with only his father's sword.

"Okay," he muttered to himself under his breath as he held the blade in front of him, trying to watch all three at once "I can totally do this. I've got a sword, right. I'm the man with a sword. Never mind that they have…" he swallowed "Guns. Right. Ditching me is totally cool, thanks _sis_."

"Aww, is lil' Wizantier all on his own?" the big one asked. "Well, there's no little girl with a gun to help you this time, is there?"

"Yeah, that's right. A little girl and I took a bunch of you guys out, remember? Yeah, big tough guys, huh?" the young man taunted. He dove into a roll to avoid the rain of bullets sent in his direction. He finished his tumble in a crouch, still grasping his sword. Suddenly there was a growling sound followed by a human cry of alarm and a thud. Killyjoy had apparently found them again. The dog bounded off the back of the man he had toppled and positioned himself at Liir's side, his ears flattened and his hackles raised as he growled menacingly at their assailants.

"Damnit! It's the demondog!" one of the tree bounty hunters hissed

"I say we get him first!" Another said

"Not on your life!" Liir snarled as he hissed a spell. Their attackers all cried out as boils appeared on their hands and they dropped their guns. The young man looked down at the dog and raised an eyebrow "Now these odds I like." Killyjoy barked in agreement and then pounced on one as his human partner whirled around, his gale force training starting to finally pay off. Between him and the dog they soon had one knocked out completely and the other two down was well, both of them their eyes bulging with terror; one because Killyjoy was standing on his chest and stomach and snarling at him viciously, drool dripping from the canine's mouth and onto his face and one with Liir's boot on his chest and the sword at his throat.

"This time I'm asking the questions." He said darkly "Why are you here. That Xorthion guy, he lured us here somehow, I'm pretty sure of that. But why?"

"He's obsessed with that redheaded bitch—" the thug was cut off by the blade cutting into his throat enough to draw blood.

"Watch it pal! That's my sister! Now, continue." His captive shifted uncomfortably.

"Here on a mission from the Goblin King. We were supposed to start a war and kill someone."  
"Who were you supposed to kill? The _Wizard_? That how you want to start the war?"

"No, that's Xorthion's job, the war-starting. We were just supposed to slit some witch's throat."

"The _Vizier_?"

"What do we look? _Crazy_?" The thug wheezed "The only thing nuttier than trying to take out the flying red cyclone up there is trying anything on the radioactive artichoke! Okay okay!" the thug wheezed out as Liir pressed his foot into his neck at the insults to his family members "We were supposed to hit the Fishy one."

"Morrible?"

"Yeah, okay? It was our chance at redeeming ourselves. We were supposed to just be the back up but Sir Mage-o-Lot got distracted. He wanted a chat Lady Hot-Tempered and to snatch you for insurance before he went off and did the deed."

"I see." Liir murmured, looking skyward where the fight between his sister and the other mage was all too evident

(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)

Xorthion soared into the air, closely followed by Raye, slowing to a hover about 30 feet from the ground and several meters apart. The moment they reached that 30 feet the grey-clad mage sent a torrent of fire hurtling at the young woman opposite with a thrust of his staff. Holding her staff with one hand, she made a sweeping motion with the other arm, bringing it round and then behind her head to push it forward towards her opponent, transforming the fire into a great wave of water that crystallized into daggers of ice. As the deadly shards hurtled towards him Xorthion opened his mouth and chanted a spell which not only turned the knives of ice back towards Rhonaraye, but transformed them into metal daggers with jeweled hilts. She, however, simply flew higher and avoided them, sending a blast of wind his way. He froze it in a twister's shape and snapped it in two, allowing the pieces to fall to the ground. It was Rhonaraye's turn now to chant. This spell caused his staff to disappear from his hand and into her free one.

Having lost his source of flight, the male mage began to fall back to earth, no longer able to defy the laws of physics, or at least he was momentarily, for with a shouted spell and movements with his hands he slowed his fall with a cushion of air. She threw down his staff and sped back to earth in a break-neck dive, pulling up sharply 7 feet from the ground in a spectacular demonstration of flight as she pulled upwards alongside her opponent. She grabbed his long sleeve twisting it up and behind his back, grabbing the material at his back as well, thereby breaking his concentration and essentially putting him at her mercy as she continued to speed up into the air again before diving down once again. This time she landed hard and threw her captive to the ground so that she could bring her staff to his throat threateningly.

"Yield." She demanded in a dangerous tone.

"Impressive," the man panted, "So, it seems we're at a tie now. Two draws, two for me, and now two for you. Our score seems to be even for the moment."

"Not even close. You still owe me both your blood and the lives of two close friends. I saved your life once, remember? And I have regretted it every moment since." She replied acidly, a terrible, burning hate in her eyes that made even Liir quail the tiniest bit. He had no idea how the man managed to take it without even a shudder.

"Not every moment." Xorthion panted with a raised eyebrow.

"I do now." she replied. Xorthion's expression hardened.

"Fine. If that's how it's going to be." He said coldly. And with that, he literally disappeared in a puff of smoke. Rhonaraye's eyes widened with fury. Her brother expected a show of temper but all she did was tighten her grip on her staff and grind her teeth.

"Raye?" He said hesitantly. She looked around at him and he continued. "I know what they came here for." He moved to where he had conjured up ropes to bind the three hired guns and kicked one, who repeated what they had told Liir earlier. The redhead closed her eyes and sighed.

"Instant travel." She muttered. "Its the only way. Wonderful. I don't suppose you ever mastered it."

"Somewhat, but not really, certainly not for that distance." He admitted sheepishly. Rhonaraye had a tired look on her face as she grabbed his elbow and turned on the spot, pulling her cloak across both of them as she did so. Then there was a strange blackness and a crushing sensation on his chest and then suddenly they were there. The two-or rather, three including Killyjoy (Who had known what to do and rushed under the cloak just in time) stumbled. At the dog's worried bark Liir turned to see his sister slumped to her knees, strands of disheveled crimson hair framing her bowed face as it worked to escape the bun (having largely succeeded by this point) and blowing back and forth with her short, breathy panting.

"I'm fine." She told him, batting away his concern and his assisting hand dismissively as she used her staff to help her rise "We should worry about them." She was pointing over his shoulder. They were in Munchkinland and a group was approaching them, including Morrible, Grommetick and a large amount of Gale Force Soldiers. Looking back at his sister he saw that she had risen to her feet and was clutching her staff.

The fat little woman was at the head of her little squadron, which included a rather shiny man of tin.

"Why, Mr. Wizantier," she said in a falsely kind and warm voice, "We have been so worried about you!"

"Cut the crap Morrible." Raye snapped, meeting the other woman's eyes. She was in rather a hurry and had no patience for this kind of nonsense, "You know that we would never hurt him and _I_ know that you have been using his disappearance as much to your own advantage as possible."

"My! Such words! Goodness, is that— no that can't _possibly_ be Ms Throular!" she simpered with a note of genuine surprise in her grating voice. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye Raye saw a flash of silver. She whipped around, wielding her staff expertly and knocking the feet of the TinMan out from under him. He toppled to the ground and his axe, which had been raised over his head ready to chop, was sent flying into the air. Pointing at it, the mage yelled a few words of magic and the thing turned to dust in mid air. Liir in the meantime tried out a spell from his own Grimmerie (the only one he could ever remember actually) which was aimed at Grommetick, causing the whirring of his internal mechanisms to slow to a halt, effectively shutting the tic tock down. In the meantime, the red-head was standing over the Silver tin man with her staff at his throat,

"Give me one good reason why you shouldn't go the same way as your axe, murderer." She demanded in a hiss. She had a deep, long-harbored grudge against this creature.

"Raye, don't!" Liir cried, fearing she would actually make good on this threat, "He's not worth it!" Morrible seemed to share his concern, the Tin Man being one of her most useful agents. Seeing the young Witch distracted she seized the opportunity to call forth a crackling bolt of lightening from the already darkening skies and made a throwing motion down towards the young woman. Liir yelled out in alarm, and Killyjoy barked loudly, but they needn't have worried. Both he and Morrible seemed to have forgotten where her strength lay, for she merely held out her free hand towards it, and the markings on her skin lighting up again and the same markings flared momentarily on both the surface of the pond nearby and the ground and trees. The electricity forked when it reached her hand, strands going into her fingers and palm, lending a yellow tinge to the markings on her body. She closed her eyes a moment before throwing aside her staff (which Killyjoy rushed to catch) and throwing back her head to release a roar of pure lightening, sending it back to the clouds in an unnaturally upward soar. The marks on the trees and water now throbbed with an almost oppressive force as they sent power flowing into their Guardian.

With another swift, jerking motion of her hands a set of roots burst through the ground and manacled the Man of Tin to the earth. The Sorceress rounded on Morrible, her eyes loosing color as the symbols began to appear in the centers

"You are a fool Morrible! An arrogant fool! I am the younger, the stronger and, it seems, the wiser! _You_ are out of your element. _I_ am not. Now you will stop and you will _listen to us_!" her voice had taken on an echoing quality to it that made it sound twice as loud and imposing as it actually was. She motioned for Liir to continue.

"I was attacked by hired thugs, not Animals. Said thugs are agents of the Goblin King." He said. He noticed the change in Morrible's face at mention of the goblin king; She froze and her mask of pleasantry slipped inch by slow inch. Raye took over at this point.

"The Goblin King, as the Vizier has been warning you for years, is about to declare War upon Oz, something that I think you rather should have known by now with you're your spies."

"Well, at least you would if you weren't too busy trying to find my sister and keep my mother 'in line'." Liir said, picking up the dialogue seamlessly. It was uncanny to see the pair truly acting as twins. Raye picked it up from here.

"Today they had a slightly different mission. And that was your death, that and instigating a war. Lucky for you, your assassin now needs some time to lick his wounds but that doesn't change the fact that you have an impending war on your hands and are not in the least prepared for it. The Emerald City will hear this one way or another. Either tell them yourself or stay here in the pond with the other Carps, I don't particularly care and I have no more patience left today!" She boomed, the wind picking up with every word she said and the thunder rolling overhead.

"Do it, Morrible." Liir suggested, "If you don't, I will, and you will simply be in the lake. I'd even throw you in myself after all you've done to my mother and sister! You're lucky that we're saving you." he informed her. Morrible was clearly dumbstruck.

"The Goblin King ordered my assassination?" She asked in a whisper, more to herself than to them. Both twins brows furrowed in a weirdly identical mannerism as they watched the Press Secretary's reaction. They exchanged frowns and then decided to let it go. A mystery for another time. The twins both shrugged and turned away from Morrible, walking past the Tin Man.

"You can't leave me here like this!" Boq growled, trying to lift his head to look at them, fighting against the root that held his head where it was

"I don't see why not." Raye said with a shrug, "Rot there for all I care. The moment you try to cut that away, it'll get angry, so I don't particularly recommend it. Enjoy"

The markings on the trees and water were fading, and Liir couldn't help but notice that his sister's strength seemed to be echoing that sentiment. However, she still took hold of one of his elbows and pulled her cape around in a twirling motion accompanied by that same strange feeling…except that this time something had gone wrong. They came out in mid-air several feet above the ground and hit the floor hard, landing several feet away from one another. He heard Killyjoy yelp with fright as they hit the floor of the Headquarters with a dull thud.

Liir heard Rhonaraye groan at about the same time he did as she rolled onto her front to try and push herself up. She looked terrible at this point. Her hair had almost completely escaped its bun, leaving only a tangled little knot at the back of her head and the rest was forming a curtain over her face, which was drawn, pale and clammy. Just then she looked up and saw a shimmer of light dance only a few feet away from her. With a small grunt of exertion she managed to push herself up and reached out, pulling back the thing that was materializing. She looked down at her four-fingered fist and slowly opened it, knowing what she was holding but having to do so anyway.

Liir didn't see it at first, he just saw a petal the same shade of deep red as her hair flit down to land on her mottled green and brown dress. Her hand went to cover her face and she allowed what she was holding to fall to the floor.

It was a single rose.

* * *

**Please review, as usual.**

**lizziemagic**: Thankyou. I think I answered your question in a PM, anyways, thanks for your review once again:D. Don't worry, you'll find out why Raye has such trust issues next chapter, it'll be a 'thing' in it. I think I can probably arrange some more Fiyeraba goodness, though at the moment I'm still puzzling on following through on my promise for more Ijiri/Glinda...hmm. As usual, love to hear from you! Happy new year!

**FriFro**: Thank you! For both the Merry Christmas and the compliment! I feel flattered that you think of my story when seeing the commercial for Wicked, are you going to be able to see it? Happy New Year!

**SunRise19**: Oh really? lol, I guess you'll really be able to feel for Liir, huh? Thank you so much for your wonderful review and enjoy the New Year!

**gagakid**: Why thank you so much!:)


	27. Part 2 Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Honestly? If I owned any part of Wicked, would I really be on FANfiction?**

**A/N: Okay! Sorry for the wait. Essentially exams and finals (final projects) have been consuming my life. Thank god they're nearly done and thanks to all of you who have been waiting so very patiently. So please read and review**

**Part 2 chapter 10**

Ijiri was going nuts. This woman was driving him _insane_. She was conspiring to do so with the weather. If he was trapped all night with her and her yammering mouth in close quarters to avoid rain for one more night, he was going to lose it. Plain and simple.

Glinda was going nuts. This man was driving her up the wall, and he was conspiring to do so with the weather. If she had to spend one more night cold, and damp in some cave or tree hollow with rain pelting down outside one more time she was going to scream.

"Do you even know where we're going?" The blonde demanded breathily as she picked up the edge of her ruined dress and scrambled over a fallen log. She tripped and fell in her (also ruined) rather impractical shoes for such hiking. Ijiri caught her.

"Yes. I'm a guide. That's what guides do. They know where they're going. I've written books on Oz."

"Yes, yes, as A Vinkus Author. You've only said so about a hundred times." Glinda fumed. "Have you ever actually been _outside_ of the Vinkus?"

"Of course. Quadling Country and Munchkinland."

"But not Gillikin?" Glinda jibed, "Because we're in the forests of Gilikin right now!"

"I'll figure it out. I know my way around a simple piece of wood." He said. "All you have to worry about are—"

"_Lions and Tigers and Bears_!" Glinda trilled in a mocking, high-pitched sing-song voice intended to irritate.

"_Oh my_!" Ijiri shot back in a perfect imitation. The blonde scowled at him

"You know, your brother was much less annoying and a great deal more charming!" she jibed

"Yeah, well guess what sweet-cheeks? I'm not my brother! Get over it!"

"Urgh! Of all the men I could have gotten stuck with!" Glinda exclaimed as she whacked a tree branch out of her way.

"And maybe you'd rather have taken your chances with those thugs?" Ijiri snapped, turning around to see the irritating woman was stuck between two trees growing close together, her dress too large and poofy to get through thanks to the crinolines that still remained in it.

"No, but at least they wouldn't be _lost_." She retorted, pushing on the two trunks imprisoning her.

"We are _not_ lost!" Ijiri growled as he seized her reaching hand and pulled "And who buys your clothes, anyway? This is just ridiculous! You're the only person I've ever met who _wears_ a cage!"

"We _are_ lost! We've already passed that boulder shaped like Elphie before! You've lead us in one giant circle—EEP!" Glinda's reproach ended in a squeal as she finally squeezed through the two trees and nearly fell down. Once again Ijiri caught her.

"Oh ye of little faith." The Prince/Guide muttered. "Come on, a friend of yours wants to see you. Come on."

"Who?" Glinda demanded. Just then the rock that 'looked like Elphie' moved. The blonde's eyes popped and her jaw dropped as a green hand appeared at the side of the rock and pushed it aside. A tall figure in a dark cloak appeared and turned its back to them to push the rock back into place. When the figure turned around again and lowered the hood. Glinda squealed again, excitedly this time and threw herself into her best friend's arms

"Elphie!" She cried, half-strangling her thin friend, pulling her this way and that.

"Glinda…air!" the green woman wheezed after a minute. The blonde let out a little laugh and released her. Elphaba merely smiled though "Its good to see that you're alright!" She exclaimed.

"Told you I knew where I was going." Ijiri muttered

"Not listening." Glinda said in her falsely-sweet voice before turning her brilliant smile on her friend. "Ooh Elphie!" She bounced up and down on her feet and threw her arms around her friend again. "You have no idea the horrifical things that happened!" She gasped suddenly

"Liir!" She cried

"I know." Elphaba interrupted. "It's alright. He's safe. But Oz isn't. I just received word from the Rebellion. There's going to be a war and soon."

"A message from the rebellion?" Glinda repeated with a frown as she pulled back to search her friend's face. Elphaba took the blonde's pale, scratched hands into her green ones.

"Yes Glinda. The Animal Rebellion. I've been communicating with them for years now, secretly. And now I finally have the freedom to officially defect. You can too! Look, the only way Oz will survive this kind of attack from the Goblins is if it _unites_. Perhaps with the Emerald Vizier standing with the Animals and the Goblins on their way to the borders they'll be willing to look past my looks in favor of my powers, I don't think many have forgotten what I was able to do last time."

"You're hoping to force an alliance."

"And the Animal rights, yes. I am not setting foot in the Emerald City until all the Animal Banns are revoked. Anyone, Animal or human, needing protection is welcome to come to me but I'm through with catering to them!" Elphaba said firmly, her silver eyes flashing in a way that they hadn't for years. Glinda knew she meant what she said.

"But, Elphie." She said after a moment "What about your father?"

The green woman let go of Glinda's hands.

"The _Wizard_ can take care of himself. He's good at that." She said coldly. "And he will never be my father." Elphaba really was rising through to the surface again, having been long dormant beneath the Emerald Vizier. This was a process that had been happening ever since that girl had fled the palace years ago, but now it seemed the transition was complete. As the Vizier, Elphaba had slowly been accepting the Wizard as her father by being forced to accept him as Liir's grandfather. Her resistance had been eroded over the course of her son's childhood to the point where she had even grudgingly sent him a (admittedly tiny and rather useless) trinket for father's day along with Liir's present for him one year. She had never called him 'father' but had not denied it so vehemently for a very long time.

Glinda nodded, feeling sorry for the old man in spite of herself.

"We'll have to tell them though, Elphie. The People of Oz." she reminded her friend. Elphaba sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll give you a ride, but I'm still not setting _foot _there. I'm staying on the broom. Maybe watching me defy gravity again will finally make some of them start to _think _about the propaganda they lap up." She insisted stubbornly. Glinda's eyes widened as her friend reached behind the rock to pull out her broom.

"The broom! But-But…how?" she stammered. Elphaba had told no one of the broom's return, not even her friend. Not even her son. It had something she had enjoyed viewing as a sort of mother-daughter pact. She had doubts that Rhonaraye would feel the same, but had allowed herself to think of it as such anyway. The green woman grinned wryly.

"It's a long story. But in the meantime, I thank you Ijiri. I'll see you later. You know where he is if you want to visit."

"I don't." Fiyero's brother said firmly. "I can keep a secret, have no fear, but I'm not talking to him." This confused Glinda but she said nothing. Elphaba shrugged

"Suit yourself."

(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)

A few minutes after Liir and Raye had 'arrived' Dr. Akota was rushing in the door, having been summoned by Candle. He rushed to Rhonaraye's side and pushed some hair off her forehead with one of his large paws. He beckoned Candle over so that she could use her fingers to check the young woman's pulse for him without risking giving her another scar, for the Bear's claws were very sharp even if he himself was very gentle.

"Go away, I just need to get my…fourth wind." She panted unconvincingly, her eyes slightly glazed.

"Stupid!" Dr. Akota repeated, reprimanding her. He turned to Liir, "How much did she do, and what?" he demanded. Liir described all that had happened, from the thing with the plants, to the duel, to the transportation and run-in with Morrible and the Tin Man. Dr. Akota shook his head.

"You resorted to drawing mage-power from the Land?" he asked her quietly. This was clearly something that shocked and worried him.

"She must have been desperate. You know how she hates doing that." Candle muttered as she took the other woman's pulse.

"I happen to be right here." Rhonaraye told them testily as her hand went to her temple, "My head aches if you must know, but I can still hear you!"

"You'll get little sympathy here." The Bear informed her as they assisted her to her feet, for while she refused to be carried she apparently couldn't walk unassisted at the moment "I have lost count of the number of times I have warned you about this but it seems that not even experiencing it has made you see sense!" As they were bickering Liir noticed the rose on the floor and was transfixed by it for a moment. He had never seen it before and he was no botanist but it seemed different then the roses he had seen in the past. It had a strange way of filling his vision for a moment as whispering voices started to build in the back of his head, rising to the surface like a tidal wave.

"Please don't start this argument. It isn't fair when I can't fight back, and I'm aware that _life_ isn't fair. I just…want to be left alone." Rhonaraye grumbled at the Bear as they started to move towards the doorway, the redhead sagging at every step. Meanwhile the whispers in the young man's head grew louder and clearer, buzzing inside his head like a swarm of bees.

"A Scarlet Mage for the Scarlet Mage." He murmured, hoping that by speaking he would satisfy the swarm in his mind and perhaps puzzle out if it had a meaning. His search for meaning was not answered, but it produced a reaction alright. Rhonaraye stopped in her tracks and slowly looked around, piercing silver eyes staring at him with an expression that he couldn't quite read, even with her mental barriers eroded with her complete exhaustion.

"What did you say?" she whispered.

"I…I didn't mean anything by it." He said uncertainly "I just saw the rose and that phrase started rolling around in my head like some kind of record on a loop…"

"It's alright Liir." Candle said quietly, surprising him and making him glance over at her. She shrank into herself but still continued "It's not your fault." He could see why she had said so preemptively when he looked back around at his sister who was covering her eyes with her mutilated hand.

"I can't do this anymore. I just can't…" She whimpered as she pushed away from Dr. Akota and staggered the couple of steps to the door, barely making it to the wall. She was almost hyperventilating as her fist closed around the end of a few locks of her hip-length scarlet hair. She threw it away from her only to make it swing back, not currently possessing the physical strength to rip it from her scalp as she seemed to want to. The Bear caught her again and resumed his assistance with a gentle firmness.

When the door closed the young man crossed the floor and bent down to pick up the dropped flower. The stem was long and vine-like, indicating that it was probably a plant that would wind around fences, but it was strong too and a stunning emerald colour. The thorns were sharp and tough and the petals were a beautiful dark red, the same shade as Raye's hair actually.

"What did I say?" he asked no one in particular.

"Scarlet Mage." A quiet voice said tentatively. Liir turned to see the Quadling still standing there, waiting. "The flower. That's…what it's called. A Scarlet Mage. It's…very rare. A new plant, but it has magical properties. That's what happens when Mages decide to make a new flower, I guess."

"Mages?" Liir asked. She nodded.

"They all seem to do stuff like that. You um…want to see some of what they started?"

"Sure." He said, amazed and thrilled at the amount of conversation he was getting today. He was pretty sure that she had just said more to him in the last 5 minutes than in the last 5 weeks. He followed her as she and Killyjoy lead him to the library. They nodded to the large Worm who barely looked up from his book to even acknowledge them. They seemed to walk a very long way until finally they reached a small cubicle. It was in there that Liir waited as the Quadling left. She returned a few minutes later with a large book and set it down on the desk in front of him. Then she and the dog departed without another word, closing the door behind them.

The young man frowned a little as he looked at the large volume. It was bound in the same style and cover as a grimmerie, but it wasn't one. The letters assembled themselves into Common tongue, not the language of spells. This was merely a history book. As he flipped through the pages he quickly realized that its subject was Mages of the past.

It seemed that Legend would have it that Mages were descended from one of the daughters of Lurline, the Fairy and the sister of the first Ozma, in this story anyway. It claimed that Lurline was the very first mage. Liir flipped through the chapters, scanning parts and reading others with intense concentration.

Mages had once been rather more numerous than they were now, but for the last thousand years or so there had only been one in a generation with any kind of real power. Oh there might be minor ones here or there, but great mages like his sister were extraordinarily rare. He read through the stories of several. It seemed they all had some sort of startling features or another, from what he gathered that was due to the amount of power they had making slight changes in their phenotype or something. He wasn't all that interested in why they had extreme hair colours like hair that was literally blood red or actually the colour of gold or pure white or whatever, nor did he care about extreme eye colours resulting from extensive powerful magic.

What concerned Liir more was the way these Great Mages took to dying. Some had gone mad. Some had burned themselves out. Many had sacrificed themselves to save large areas and/or groups of people. In the rare times where there had been more than one Mage of power at a time they had killed each other off more often than not. Some were murdered for one reason or another. He had a hard time finding one that had died of old age.

Suddenly there was a slight hissing sound. Liir turned to see Candle standing in the doorway.

"It's a restricted area. You're not actually supposed to be here." The Quadling told him. The young man nodded and returned the book, hurrying out of the little cubicle.

"Thank you." He said. Candle nodded. She maintained her distance with him, completely out of arms reach so that there would be no touching as they slipped out of the library, but she was at least talking to him now…and apparently helping him. As if reading his mind she said "You wanted to know more and she isn't going to tell you."

"Why not?" He asked her. The Quadling shrugged

"She doesn't trust you." She said. Liir was stung.

"You know, you're the second person to tell me that." He remarked, putting his hands into his pockets so that he might clench his fists without any risk of startling the easily-frightened young woman. "I don't know what it is that makes me so untrustworthy."

"Absolutely nothing." Candle said so quietly that he almost didn't hear her.

"Huh?" he asked. She swallowed and started to fidget.

"She doesn't trust anybody, _least _of all the people she actually wants to." She said. Liir frowned.

"That's the second time someone's told me that, too." He told her. The dark-haired young woman nodded again. He frowned "Why?"

Candle shrugged, her hand coming down to gently stroke Killyjoy's head as they walked.

"She…she trusted someone once. She was so sure of him, she vouched for him. Got him into the rebellion, defended him, confided in him even. He...betrayed her. Now she confides in nobody and doesn't trust her own judgment about others. It's why she goes off on her own so often. She only relies on others if she has no other alternative. Doctor Akota is the only one she will ever take anyone to because she knows that he lives for his patients and she leaves her ward only in the care of her guardians or Killyjoy because she knows that they love him more than anything, not because they love her-which they do of course. But she doesn't expect them to do it as a favor to her...Do you see?" she asked, nervously wringing her hands.

"I think so." Liir said slowly. Candle nodded, her golden-brown face a little ashen, and then fled. Still, that was the longest conversation they had ever had. Once she was gone he took the rose out from where he had stuffed it in his pocket and twirled it between his fingers as he thought over what Xorthion had begun to tell him in that forest.

Once he was back in his quarters the young man sat down on the edge of his bed and again removed the rose from his back pocket, twirling it idly in his fingers as he stared at it. How had it gotten there? What was such a big deal about it? And just how in the name of Lurline did it still look as though he had just picked it a moment ago when the thing had been sitting in his pocket for a good hour or even two? It was even slowly stretching the slightly crushed petals back out into bloom. This was one resilient plant even after it had been cut from the bush.

"Where did you come from?" he murmured rhetorically. The more he sat there the more that question ate at him, he wasn't entirely sure why. Because of how it was bugging him, he couldn't be sure whether or not the image that flashed before his eyes; _One hand— a fine hand but nevertheless definitely a man's— holding out a rose to someone, grasping it tenderly between the fingers. Another hand—a woman's— with long, slender fingers reached out to accept the offering, pulling it back to hold it against the heart of the lady receiving it. _

It was with these strange images flashing across his mind that he eventually drifted off into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)

Rhonaraye locked herself up for a week after their return, during which time she neither spoke to nor saw anyone. Not even Liir. Not even _Zach_. This was hard on the little Mule, but not as hard as it could have been. He was told that his loving caregiver was very, very tired and not feeling well and was sleeping a lot, the way some of the patients in the infirmary did so it was best if they let her sleep. He had agreed and stayed with Dr. Dillamond across the hall. Dosey was also staying over to give the old a Goat a hand with what she could, punctuating every conversation with 'Begging your pardon's. A rather dejected Killyjoy was there too, moping.

When said week was up Liir decided that enough was enough and went to Raye's quarters with the express intention of having a serious talk with her. However, just as he raised his fist to bang on the door, Muhlama prowled over and bounded off his shoulders, throwing him off balance.

"Kumbrica's foot, Muhlama!" he exclaimed as he stumbled forward. She chuckled deep in her throat at getting the desired reaction. She'd been doing this to people she could away with for days now and it still wasn't getting old yet.

"My father sent me to come and find you, so come! Come!" the Tigress said as she seized the fabric of his shirt and started to pull him along. She was very strong.

"Not now Muhlama! I'm going to get my sister to come out of that room!" Liir protested as he futilely tried to pry her claws out of his jacket shoulder.

"Oh, she'll come. Trust me." The Cat said dismissively.

"I'm worried about her." Liir insisted.

"She will be fine. She always is. She'll be back to fighting tooth and nail and making strange things happen in no time. Just let her marinate her thoughts."

"_Marinate_?"

"What? The word is fun to say. Come!" The Tigress said as she dragged him down the hall. He couldn't think who she'd be so excited about at first and she gave no more clues. It was not until they reached the top of the stairwell leading down to the same grand hallway in which he and his sister had had their reunion not too long ago. Down where he had stood was a bit of a crowd. In the centre were three figures that looked as though they had just come in, still shaking snow off their cloaks and cringing away from the onset of people. As they did so their hoods fell off and Liir saw an emerald face beneath stray, clinging wet strands of long thick hair, the deep ebony colour of which he had inherited.

"Mother." Liir said, his voice lost among the crowd. Behind Elphaba was a blonde woman and beside her stood a scarecrow. As he walked down the stairs the green woman turned and saw him. Her bright silver eyes lit up.

"Liir." She breathed. She felt her heart leap into her throat. He was alright. She had been told so and her logical mind had been telling herself that for weeks now, but seeing it was another matter entirely. Fiyero heard her and looked up to see a young man bearing a striking resemblance to his human appearance walking down the staircase. He watched as his lover slid through the throng of curious Animals which quickly parted to let her pass, some out of respect, others out of the usual discomfort at her unusual skin tone. For once Elphaba really didn't care. Liir met her halfway. The two stopped a couple of feet away from one another. Elphaba put her green hands on either side of his face and looked him over, scanning in that motherly way for signs of injury as she brushed some hair away from his forehead. As she did so the White Tiger on the council, Muhlama's father, ushered as many as he could out of the room to give the little family some privacy for their reunion.

After a few moments Elphaba let out a huge sigh of absolute relief and pulled her son into a tight embrace. It never ceased to surprise Liir whenever she did this, though for once it didn't take him any time to hug her back. Elphaba had never neglected or avoided touching her son, but she had never been very good at displaying affection, not having experienced many such displays herself. Glinda watched with a big smile on her face and sniffed a little, dabbing at her eyes with a corner of the cloak she had been leant. Ijiri rolled his eyes but made no comment other then a scoff. She shot him a dirty look when she heard it.

"I was so worried about you." Elphaba whispered into her son's hair, "Sweet Oz, you have no idea." When she pulled she seemed to compose herself and then turned to reach out a hand for the scarecrow. He moved forward numbly. Suddenly Liir remembered the conversation he'd had with his sister about their past and the letter she had received explaining their parentage and their father's...unusual condition.

"Are…are you…?" he trailed off hesitantly. The Scarecrow nodded slowly. He stared at the handsome young man, going over every inch of him. He'd only ever caught a glimpse of his son a handful of times during the youth's life: in newspapers. Unsure exactly of how to proceed—what did one do nearly 20 years down the road?—the pair each reached out and shook hands.

"It's…good to meet you." Liir offered, unsure where to start. All his life questions about his father had burned at him. Now he had the real article…and he was a…Scarecrow. Hm. Well, he should have some interesting dance moves considering he was literally boneless. Glinda had contained herself long enough at this point and practically flew to her godson, entrapping him in a bone crushing hug, sobbing into his shoulder and babbling about how terrified she'd been and how incredibly sorry she was and other, somewhat less well articulated things as the trauma they'd gone through together came back in full force. It took a long time to calm her down. It was clear that her godson's torture would haunt her forever.

Elphaba also looked to be seriously affected by this, and not just because of her friend's distress. Her silver eyes locked onto Liir's at some of the things the blonde was babbling about and he could see the sudden belated terror and (more powerfully) the less belated fury mingled there at this revelation. She had only been told that her best friend and her son had been rescued, not that Liir had been _tortured_!

What they didn't realize at first was that someone else was watching from the shadows in one of the doorway. Once they were out of the hallway a young woman clenched her fist over her chest and pressed her back against the stone wall around the corner, glad that no one had come by this way. Farro. Her father was alive and well and here! Rhonaraye was desperate to see him, but would rather do it in private. Truth be told she was a little embarrassed about her appearance at the moment. Doubling back through a secret passage way she returned to her rooms and surveyed the mess she had made during her self-imposed seclusion. She didn't have time for a complete overhaul of the place without a full spell, which she wasn't sure she was up to doing. She literally ended up sweeping most of the wreckage into a closet, careful to pick up all the shards and any other sharp objects to make sure that Zach wouldn't be able to get at them. Even with that stashed away safely the place was still a wreck; there was a long, harsh crack in the full-length mirror from end to end and the contents of various herb packets and bottles were strewn across the floor with shorn locks of red hair scattered amongst them and a large stain by the mirror bleeding out of a dropped bottle of black dye.

She then went to the quarters that her brother had been assigned, hoping to catch them before they met anyone else. She had just raised her four-fingered fist to knock on the door when Liir opened it with the intention of seeking her out. The two froze and stared at one another a moment. Liir was in open-mouthed shock at her new appearance. Raye cleared her throat a little uncomfortably and ran her long fingers through her now _shoulder_-length _black_ hair, looking at the doorframe a moment before meeting his gaze again.

"Can I come in?" she asked quietly. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before nodding and stepping back to allow her entry. The moment she entered the low lull of conversation stopped. Fiyero jumped up from the chair he had been sitting in and Elphaba froze, eyes locking on her long lost daughter. Rhonaraye's gaze zoned in on the scarecrow, however. She hadn't seen Farro, her father biologically as well as emotionally, in 4 years.

In a heartbeat she had rushed the man of straw and thrown her arms around him tightly. They stood there like that for a few minutes. It took the others a minute or two to realize that the former redhead was silently crying. When she pulled back from the embrace she wiped it with her sleeve.

That was what Glinda noticed first about the young woman in front of her. Her clothing. Never having seen much of Rhonaraye Throular in the past, she wasn't particularly struck by the fact that the hip-length red hair was now as black as her mother and brother's and reached only to her upper back, a good foot gone from the length at least. Neither Fiyero nor Elphaba had made much of it, thinking that it was merely one of the many things that had changed in 4 years that they might expect, even if it was a stark difference. Only Liir appreciated how sudden and drastic this was.

No, Glinda noticed the wardrobe, which admittedly was unusual for an Ozian woman. Rhonaraye appeared to have gotten rid of the long skirts in favor of a pair of breeches, knee-high boots and a shirt of some kind beneath a long-sleeved jacket (with sleeves that went right to her fingers and cleverly obscured her already minor mutilation) which was ankle-length. It hugged her arms and torso much like the bodice of a dress might have and then flared a little after that point. The buttons on it only reached to the same point as a shirt might have, letting the coat tails hang in an upside-down V to display the breeches. It was most unusual to see a girl in pants around those parts; even Elphaba donned the long flowing skirts. Perhaps they might sometimes in farming country for the sake of practicality but Glinda didn't think she'd ever seen it outside of those circumstances in Oz.

Elphaba didn't care. Neither did Fiyero. They hardly noticed it. The green woman was unabashedly staring, drinking in the daughter that she had never watched grow up. She slowly stood. Ironic that she and Fiyero had switched positions so quickly. She slowly stood and walked over to her, meeting the gaze that was identical to her own. Her daughter was taller than her, not by much but a little. She was so changed from that coltish 15 year old who had fled the emerald city nearly 4 years ago and had gained many scars, more inside then out if the Witch was any judge.

"It's um," Raye cleared her throat awkwardly, "Nice to er, meet—I mean, um...see you again."

What in Oz did you say at a time like this? It was a rare moment where both were scrambling for something to say. Both felt a confusing, strange, hish-hash of emotions and neither of them were very good at expressing intimate feelings, neither romantic nor filial. Eventually Elphaba motioned to Glinda.

"Glinda, this is…my daughter. Rhonaraye." The blonde beamed. The young woman nodded "Rhonaraye this is my best friend Glinda…who would have been your godmother too if…well we all know the 'if'."

"It's nice to meet you." Raye replied. It was all very awkward actually. But they supposed that was family.

They talked for hours. Glinda recounted some of the escapades she'd had with Liir's uncle Ijiri in recent weeks, clutching her godson's hand the entire time. Liir bombarded his father with questions and vice versa. Raye and Elphaba were uncharacteristically quiet, content to listen. The green woman alternated between staring at her lover and her children, unable to believe her fortune at having them all alive and with her at once. She'd never thought it would actually happen. They were given an additional surprise when Raye slipped out for a minute to return with Doctor Dillamond, the Bear Ralimla, a large dog and an adorable Mule colt. The green witch had let out an overjoyed exclamation and rushed over to greet her beloved teacher and old friend. They were introduced to Little Zach as well, who was a little overwhelmed at first, but quickly set to work in firmly imbedding himself in all their affections.

For the first time, they were all together. It was strange. Not the most comfortable situation ever, but far from the least. They'd take it.

Throughout the evening Liir kept trying to catch his sister's eye but she had none of it. She didn't talk much and when she did she carefully (and artfully) managed to steer the conversation away from herself, a true feat considering that his mother was desperate to know everything there was to know about her. Unfortunately for Elphaba and Liir, Raye had not been sitting on that Council without learning how to manipulate a conversation and used Glinda's chattiness and Dr. Dillamond's excitement at having his favourite student and former housemate back to her advantage. By the time everyone was ready to go to bed, next to nothing had been said about the former redhead.

Very well. Liir would play this game. He'd get his answers eventually.

Tomorrow.

* * *

And now for my wonderful reviewers!

**elphieT**: Sorry about that, I went back and fixed it. Thank you SO much for pointing it out, I'd completely missed those! I'm glad you picked up on the Morrible thing and enjoyed the chapter.

**WickedWriterOfTheWest**: No worries:) I'm glad to hear from you when you can, thank you for reviewing! Ooh...yummy muffins, thanks:D! *Gasps* and chocolate? LOVE IT! This total chocoholic thanks you;)

**twilighterjf4eva**: Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't intending to. That was an editing mistake that I went back, I think its fixed now. Bit of an 'oops' moment.

**SunRise19**: I'm glad you zoned in on the rose. As for Morrible...oh it is so very tempting to kill her, but in the end, that would just be too easy...thank you for reviewing!

**lizziemagic**: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it and also thank you for pointing out those mistakes. I went back and fixed them so it should be good now I think...As for Xorthion, well you'll find out. All in good time.

**FriFro**: I'm glad. I hope you get to see it. Enjoy:)! Its AMAZING!

**PurpleReader29**: Thanks! Sorry this update took so long.


	28. Part 2 Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: NOT MINE.**

**_Secondary Disclaimer_: I think that I should mention here now that I elaborate on it, that I got the idea for the 'binding' from a very brilliant author named Mercades Lackey, who used this in her _Elemental Masters _series, though I added my own bits to it as well. She was also one of the authors I have read who uses the idea of magic 'portals', or 'gates' as was briefly featured in part one, though I have read several fantasy novels using that kind of thing.**

**A/N: Okay, so I guess everyone is busy and I suppose there are plenty out there who also had exams and stuff but I was still kind of disappointed that I only got one review last chapter. Lizziemagic, as usual, you are awesome. Thank you so much. (I already sent my reply to your review). Okay, the next update can be really prompt because the next chapter is ready (I actually ended up splitting a mammoth chapter into two after much debate with myself). HINT, more reviews will make me update faster... ... ...Next chapter will be the last one before part 3. We are more than 2 thirds there. **

**Part 2 Chapter 11**

The bliss of reunion didn't last long. Liir still wanted answers to his questions and very quickly Elphaba had some too. The green witch was uncertain and cautious in her dealings with her long-lost child. Neither of them really knew what to make of each other, really. They both were desperate for a connection, but how did one form such a thing at this stage? Rhonaraye avoided addressing Elphaba, talking to her outright instead of opening with her name or a title or 'mother'. When she did use the latter it was with hesitation and the sense of a foreign taste on her tongue.

The green witch had been exploring the impressive mountain stronghold and came across her daughter in the quaint little cafeteria. She was sitting in the type of spot that Elphaba herself had, and often still did, favor: a corner with her back to a wall. She had evidently elected to keep the new style choice and was once again in breeches and a close-fitting coat with sleeves that went right to her knuckles. The former Magical Vizier knew that this was probably going to be one of those ridiculously controversial issues but she really didn't care what her daughter wore. Besides, she could certainly see the benefit to no longer tripping over skirts.

"I see you like quiet tables too." The green woman said tentatively. The younger woman looked up, startled. Also like her mother, she had been engrossed in a book.

"May I join you?" Elphaba asked.

"Uh...yes! Yes, please. Sit." Raye stammered, gesturing to the empty chair. "How are you and Farro, er, settling in?"

"Fine. We're settling in fine, very well in fact." The older woman replied with an overly cheery nod.

"No one's been giving you any trouble? Kynot hasn't been a nuisance?" The mage enquired. Elphaba frowned a little at that and blinked

"I didn't realize I should be on guard for something like that." She commented. She remembered the Eagle. He had been gruff but to the point when she had known him. Then again, that had been nearly 2 decades ago. Raye shrugged and closed her book as an afterthought. There was silence between the two for a minute or two before Elphaba hesitantly reached to touch her daughter's right hand. In a knee-jerk reaction Raye pulled back the maimed appendage to remove it from view and hide the disfigurement. Elphaba misinterpreted the action and hurt flashed across those silver eyes. She quickly recovered though, reminding herself that this would take time.

"The…new Headquarters is nice." She commented, searching for a topic of conversation.

"It was difficult to make, but it's worked out well." Raye agreed with a small hint of relieved pride "There were already some dwarven tunnels in here though; there was a framework to work with."

"Did you do all this?" Elphaba enquired, sweeping her hand to indicate the mountain stronghold.

"No, not alone anyway, but I did help." Raye replied shortly, her tone telling her mother that this was not something that she was willing to elaborate on. This time it was the former redhead's turn to scrabble for something to talk about.

"I, um, I guess you got the broom okay," She was relieved at her choice of topic; the green woman's face simply lit up.

"Oh yes. You took very good care of it."

"Flight as good as you remembered?" Raye asked. Elphaba's eyes twinkled and she nodded, beaming.

"Definitely. That was a bit of a risky venture, smuggling it into my room. Very risky, even for that bold night of yours. But then, you must be good. _I_ didn't even know when or how you got in. Then again, I was a little preoccupied with losing the contents of my stomach..."

The mage bit her lip slightly at that and averted her gaze. A small, guilty, nervous grimace of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"I have a bit of a confession to make." She said sheepishly, watching as the green woman tilted her head in curiosity. Better just to spit it out.

"I poisoned you." She winced in slow motion as she said it.

Black eyebrows shot up on the emerald forehead at this pronouncement.

"I beg your pardon?" Elphaba enquired

"Well…I knew that Morrible was just waiting for something she could use as an excuse to get rid of you and that you would want to help with that kind of prison bust and I couldn't risk us being caught talking. Glinda and the Monkeys had grown enough back-bone to watch your back when you were sick and between them and Liir there was no way she'd get you whilst you were sick and that if there was rather…a _lot_ of evidence that you weren't faking there'd be nothing the old hag could do about it. So…when the kitchen boy stopped to buckle up the shoe that, um, _conveniently_ came undone I slipped some '_vomtus nightshade'_ into your dinner." The young woman bit the bottom of her lip in a guilty little grimace, her bright eyes searching for absolution for this act, though not really expecting it. She had not taken a single breath in her fast-paced confession.

Elphaba sat back in her chair, surprised at this development. Now that the young woman mentioned it however, she wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of it sooner. The effects of that very mild poison were very uncomfortable but by no means lethal. All it did was induce symptoms similar to a stomach flu, mainly extreme vomiting.

"You _poisoned_ me." She repeated slowly.

"Yes?" Raye replied slowly before quickly rambling "I-I just didn't want you to get hurt and I know that you'll be angry with me and I'm sorry—"

"It's alright." Elphaba cut in, holding up her green hand to stem the flow of words rushing out from her daughter's mouth "It's alright. I'm not exactly…pleased but I suppose I can see where you're actions came from. _Don't_ do it again."

Raye stared at her, completely at a loss of how to react to this rather unexpected reaction. Elphaba's tone was firm and reprimanding, but not overly angry. She sounded almost like Ralimla. The former redhead sat there, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. The green woman surveyed her with slight amusement.

"Everything alright?"

"I just told you that I _poisoned you_." Raye repeated, unsure that the green woman had heard her correctly the first time.

"Yes, and you told me the reason. You weren't trying to commit matricide, even if you hadn't told me _that_ I would have known it wasn't your intention. '_Vomtus_ _nightshade' _is very ineffectual as an actual poison; all it does is give someone the equivalent of a bad stomach flu. I'm not happy about what you did, but I certainly forgive you! In fact, if the positions were reversed I can't tell you for sure that I wouldn't have done the same. Let's not dwell on this, please."

Rhonaraye blinked, dumbstruck.

"Uh…okay." She said slowly. Not what she had expected, certainly. The conversation from there was carefully worded and directed from both sides to 'safe' subjects that they had in common, like magic and academics and the Monkeys that Raye had gotten to know whilst they passed messages to one another via the winged Simians. Most of the flock had made their way to the mountain strong hold and settled in over the last few weeks. No one in the Emerald City had noticed; Elphaba was the only one to keep an accurate count of them and she knew where they were going.

Killyjoy found them and plunked himself at his mistress's feet. He leaned back against her leg in a possessive demand for attention, providing another outlet for conversation.

"Ah, so this is your familiar." Elphaba smiled as the dog arched his neck back to indicate that he wanted a better scratch there. The mage rolled her silver eyes.

"Not you too!" she groaned as she complied with Killyjoy's demand, though the witch noticed that she didn't deny it. The green woman reached a hand out for him to sniff and the massive dog leapt up, bumping the table as he did so. He yelped once when his head hit the edge of the table but shook it off quickly only to startle at the sudden thump of Rhonaraye's book falling to the floor in front of him.

"Oh. Sorry. Guess I put that too close to the edge…I don't normally do that, I'm careful with books." The Mage said apologetically as she reached down to pick up the large volume. When she set it back down on the table the long sleeve of her jacket covering the right hand inched up to the wrist, allowing Elphaba a proper view of the long, ugly scar down the side of the palm in place of where the smallest finger should have been. Her daughter caught her staring at it and pulled the sleeve back down in place in a swift, embarrassed motion as she rose to her feet abruptly. The green woman was just as quick though and caught her by surprise when the emerald hand seized her wrist in a strong but not harmful grip as the mage tried to stalk past her. Raye tried to pull her hand away to no avail: Elphaba was stronger than her rail-thin frame might lead one to think.

The Witch stared at the scar along the hand, then at her daughter's face and then back at the hand. She knew what it was; she knew _exactly_ what it was which was why Rhonaraye had taken such pains to actively hide the small disfigurement. The younger woman watched the horror sink into her mother's expression as the green woman opened her mouth, searching for what to say, for the right question to ask. The Mage seized her opportunity and jerked her wrist out of the strong grip of those emerald fingers and fled, leaving her mother standing there in shock.

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Liir was strolling through the hallway casually, deep in thought about his parents. It was weird to see them together—and not just because it was downright impossible to find a more unusual-looking couple than a green woman and a scarecrow either (though he had to admit, it certainly was a factor). No, what really made it strange for Liir was to see his mother holding hands with someone _voluntarily_, their arms twisting together like two vines, their fingers intertwined and everything. Every once in a while she'd grin at something he said and/or even chuckle. He'd never seen her so comfortable around _anyone. _It was strange. He was happy for her though. It was nice to see _her_ so happy.

The Scarecrow, Fiyero, Liir's father, seemed to be the same but the young man had no idea what was normal for him. On the whole he'd been avoiding his father, not because he didn't want to see him or because the scarecrow thing bothered him (okay, maybe that _did_ play a slight role in spite of his efforts not to allow it to do so, but come on! His supposedly dead dad was made of straw! It was _weird_!), but more because he had no idea what to do. He'd always wanted a father, but now that he had one he didn't know what he was supposed to do with him.

It was on these thoughts that Candle and Doctor Akota happened across him as they walked briskly down the corridor transporting supplies or something, Liir wasn't quite sure. When the Quadling saw him she stared for just a moment too long and didn't notice one of the rolls of bandages that she was carrying tip. It slipped and unraveled on its gravity-induced trip down to the floor and tripped her up. She stumbled and dropped the tray of instruments, scattering them across the floor. She gasped and jumped at the loud clatter before letting out tsking groan of annoyance and bent to gather them up. Liir rushed forward to help before Doctor Akota had even set down his own burden to help. Upon seeing this he smiled in a conspiratorial sort of way and stepped back a little, watching the pair.

Candle did not immediately retreat from the young man's presence, a good sign. In fact she stole several (albeit nervous) glances at him from beneath her lashes. However, when their hands brushed as they reached for the same instrument she recoiled, her eyes going wide. Liir immediately retreated back to give her some space.

"I-I'm sorry." He said. She shook her head and got to her feet before fleeing. "I'm sorry!" Liir called after her. He swore and sat down on the cobblestone.

"Damn." He muttered.

"Oh, my dear boy. Trust me, that's progress."

"She's terrified of me!"

"Frightened, yes. But you should know that she is struggling to overcome it. She's made more strides in handling the presence of human males in the short time you have been around than she has in _years_."

There was a pause as they finished gathering everything back onto the tray.

"The Gale Force attacked her, didn't they? They…violated her. Didn't they?"

Akota nodded. Recently his young friend had given him her permission to tell their story shared story and her specific if he felt the need to. He held out a powerful furry arm to Liir and pulled back some of the thick brown hair to show some scarring around the paw. He did the same around the ruff of his neck.

"You too?"

"Not in the same way. I was in Candle's village at the time, working as a traveling doctor. I could no longer legally practice anywhere near the Emerald City, Gillikin or Munchkinland, but Quadling country was unregulated and impoverished. They needed medical services but they couldn't afford them. They weren't picky about my species. Unfortunately, the Gale Force arrived and a few of them do enjoy their blood-sports. One of the farmers refused to pay the ridiculous tax. If he had he would never have been able to feed his family for the terrain there is difficult to farm. Others followed suit. The soldiers decided to make an example of the village, it probably didn't help when they found me and several other Animals there. So they rounded everyone up into the town square.

"A good friend of mine, a Phoenix—who gave Candle the feather strung into her Dominigan—was killed rather graphically in front of them and then served to the Commander for dinner. A man named Cherrystone, I believe. Something similar happened to a Cow who had lived there for decades and the rest were just slaughtered. I was kept alive for 'entertainment.' They thought I'd make a good dancer. The farmer who had first defied them was publicly executed along with his family. Then they ransacked the Quadlings' homes and took anything of value. Afterwards they rounded up a group of them into the square and shut everyone else in their houses before torching the little huts. Candle was barely 12. She had been separated from her family and had to listen to them die in the flames. She and the rest of the small group were shackled to their new caravan.

"Most were sold as slaves to the passing merchants. All of this was technically illegal of course, but they knew that they would never be punished for doing such things to Quadlings. Quadlings have been persecuted for generations, not just since the Wizard came, it is a long, deep-rooted predjudice dating back a few generations of Ozma though I myself simply don't understand this disdain for Quadlings. But a few of those…_men_," he spat out the word for lack of a better one, "took a…a certain 'liking' to her, I use the term broadly. I never saw any of it when it was actually happening, but I secretly treated her afterwards and knew exactly what had transpired. One night one of them saw her bringing up what little food they were giving her and began to fear that she was carrying one of their bastards. None of them wanted to take the risk that it was his so they decided it was time to discard their 'toy' and remove any evidence of their deed.

"I can tell you that I have never been happier to see anyone than when your sister and Princess Muhlama came to our rescue. Muhlama had been tracking us for days, maybe weeks, but she knew that she couldn't take down an entire platoon single-handedly without risking the prisoners and capture herself. So she called for back up. She and Miss Throular made quick work of them. They didn't completely slaughter the platoon though I think they were both tempted to. Instead they concentrated on getting the prisoners to safety. We got out; the Rebellion offered me my clinic and Candle has been under my care and protection ever since."

"Whoa." Was all Liir could say to that. He'd been expecting it but that didn't make it any easier to hear. "No wonder she's so skittish. I've known people go mad for less."

"Some of our group did." Akota told him gravely. "Look Liir, are you willing to wait for her? Because if you aren't, then don't pursue her. She's not ready. Would it be good for her to have a positive, healthy relationship with a man? Yes. Is she ready yet? Probably not. You seem like a very nice young man, but remember that you will have me to deal with if she gets hurt." The Bear reminded him sternly. He nodded.

"I know. And…I've been in relationships before, trust me, but this is different. I've never felt like this for anyone before. Not quite anyway," He thought of Trism. They might have really had something once, but neither of them had ever had the courage to pursue it and now they were out of each others' lives. His feelings for Candle were very similar. He looked up from his musings.

"I'll wait for her." He said. Doctor Akota smiled.

"I was rather hoping you would say that." He said. The young man nodded and the Doctor thanked him for his help with the dropped instruments before he left. What neither of them knew was that a certain Quadling had been listening.

"I was hoping he'd say that too." She whispered to herself.

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Liir was still thinking about Candle when he wandered into one of the incredible porch-like settings in which the outermost wall was made of very thick glass which provided an idyllic view of the mountains. There were several reclining chairs and tables scattered along the long room for people to sit. It was a particularly popular spot during the day, though it seemed to be largely deserted for that evening. There were only two people there: Elphaba and Fiyero.

The green woman was curled up in one of the larger, cushy chairs, watching the snow flit across the mountain peaks through the glass that separated the porch-type setting from the harsh elements. She had a distant look in her eyes that her son knew to be one that she wore when deep in thought. Next to her sat the scarecrow, Liir's father. He, too, seemed to be deep in (rather troubled) thought. They were just sitting there with a silence between them that was not one of animosity, but still wasn't exactly comfortable.

The Scarecrow looked up when he came in and gestured for him to pull up a chair, which he did. His mother blinked and seemed to snap out of her reverie to acknowledge him. He dragged a chair into a position to complete the triangle, though he was further away from his parents then they were from each other, holding hands as they were. He knew that if he came out with his news Elphaba would listen to him first, but he wanted to know what was bothering her. Also, he wasn't sure he was ready to talk to Fiyero about this _quite_ yet, the scarecrow was still too much of a stranger.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Liir, have you seen your sister's hand?" Fiyero asked him "Her _right_ hand?"

The young man stiffened slightly at the unbidden flashback of the way the appendage seemed almost alien, the way what was left of the palm and the remaining fingers gave off the optical illusion of elongation and of course the long, harsh scar. This flash was followed by one of the long, permanent gash-mark along her cheekbone. He pushed the image away and looked up at his parents, though even as he did so he felt his hand move towards the blemishes that the skin along his chest and ribcage would forever bear thanks to those thugs. He nodded once.

"I don't know _how_ it happened," he started to say "She won't tell me—"

"I know what happened." Elphaba interrupted. She sighed "And I think I know when. You do too."

"I do?" Liir asked. His mother raised an expectant eyebrow at him and he suddenly remembered. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and nodded again with a sigh. "You're right. I do."

"What are you two talking about?" Fiyero enquired, confused. Elphaba closed her eyes at the unpleasant memory. She hadn't had a chance to tell her beloved of that incident yet and now she was dreading it deeply. Still, it had to be told.

"I can tell it if you wish, Liir." The green woman said, offering him an out of the unpleasant recollection. It was no better a memory for her, but she was also his mother and wanted to spare him all the pain and hardship that she could; a task she felt she had failed in miserably. The young man shook his head though. He was an adult now. If he wanted to be treated like one he knew he had to act like one.

"Um, I don't know how much mother told you about the connection between me and Raye…"

"She told me a little."

"Well, when she lets me _in_, we can talk without speaking. Without even being in the same room. We done it when we weren't even in the same _country_ I think, though again when she shares, right? Anyway, when one of us is in pain, lots of it, the other can…feel it. Its how Raye rescued me from those bounty hunters that attacked me and Aunt Glinda."

"Yes, son. I know." Fiyero assured him, desperate to hear more about where this was going. His son cleared his throat and the proceeded to tell his father about his vicarious experiences nearly 2 years previously: about how he had woken up in the middle of the night in absolute agony that had consumed him for several days. Liir had drifted in and out of consciousness, but when he _was_ conscious he had been consumed not only by physical pain but by an overwhelming despair.

"I know it was from Nari— Rhonaraye I mean." He said, quickly correcting the nickname to her full name "But quite frankly I don't know what was going on exactly. I think she did, but for once she wasn't working to hide it from me. She was just…well _preoccupied_. She was tortured. Like I was, only for longer and I think she was hurt pretty badly to start with when they got her. I never found out details. She was never…forthcoming with her thoughts but that was when she _really_ became distant. For a while she was 'there' but sort of retreated from any of those memories, not that I blame her. Then a little while later it was like she just shut off completely. We had some more of our conversations in our minds, but they weren't the same."

Fiyero nodded and Elphaba squeezed his hand. It was hard for her to hear and she had known exactly what had happened to Liir and she didn't even want to think about the impact this revelation on their daughter's experiences hit him. Their son cleared his throat

"Mother, you said that you knew what the scar was. What is it other than a scar?"

The Witch of the West was quiet for a long time

"Liir, do you remember when you asked me about some of the darker magics? Blood magic?" she asked him. Suddenly his face fell and he shook his head.

"No…" he breathed, shaking his head "No way. No one would _dare_…! You think they tried to bind her? What kind of fool would try—oh Lurline." Suddenly he leapt to his feet. Elphaba glanced over to see a confused look on her lover's burlap face.

"Binding is a loosely translated term." She began to explain "It's among the darkest of the Arcane Arts. You take a piece of someone, a physical _piece_ of them, and you perform an enchantment using it which 'binds' them to you. They become your slave; they have no choice but to obey your orders, even if you order them to…" she scrabbled for an example "…To take a knife to themselves or someone they love. The spell is slightly more complex to do on someone with magical prowess, but those who would do such a vile thing would think it to be worth the effort to get control over power like that."

"There is a catch though." Liir said, taking over the explanation as he started to fidget and pace "People fight it. The stronger the will of the person being bound the more it takes to keep them under wraps. The more power you try to harness the more it struggles to break free. And when they do, the result is rarely pretty for the psycho who tried to enslave them. That's why most of the perverts who do this go after people who are less likely to fight back with any kind of strength. It's kids most of the time, the younger the better because then they haven't learned that there's any other kind of life. They're open to suggestion. Once they're firmly under the control of the 'binder' its nearly impossible to break free."

Elphaba resumed the mini-lecture at this point

"It can't be done with hair. From what I know of this-this _act_ there has to be some pain involved. Apparently mere blood can be used, flesh is good, bone is better. Dark-Fire, fire enchanted with blood magic as well- often the victim's own blood- is usually used to cauterize the wound and it leaves rather…specific scars. During my tenure as Vizier I had to deal with one man from Gillikin. He had some small power and he used blood magic to get more. He was binding people to him; Animals, Quadlings, people that the Wizard and Morrible wouldn't deem important. It was a nightmare. I had to blackmail the Wizard and Morrible with as much dirt as I could find just to get him arrested even though he was supposedly under my jurisdiction as _Magic_ Grand Vizier. It wasn't until the brother of one of his victims slit his throat in his prison cell that they were freed from the bind."

There was a tense silence.

"Someone did that to our little girl?" Fiyero finally hissed, one of his glove-hands clenching into a fist.

"_Tried_, I think, yes. She's _not_ been bound though, and I would have been very surprised if anyone had managed it. She's too powerful, too independant. Her mind is too keen and her will is too strong." Elphaba said, a note of pride in her appraisal of their daughter's fortitude mingled in with her disgust and anger at what had been attempted on her. Liir stood at that point and walked out of the room with a look of determination on his face. Fiyero started to rise but the green hand he was holding pulled out of his glove and moved to his shoulder.

"Let him go." She said. He hesitated but then sat back down. Elphaba knew their son and she knew him well. Better then he seemed to know their daughter at the moment. He hunched over and put his head in his hands.

"She's changed Elphie. Our little girl, she's so different! It's more than the hair and the clothes, I don't care about that. But she's so…closed off. Even to Dr. Dillamond, even to _me_!"

"I know." The witch whispered. She heaved a great sigh. "That's not all that's changed though. Sweet Lurline…everything here is different. The _Rebellion_ has changed. 20 years ago it wasn't like this. These people have been beaten and kicked when they were down too many times. They're all justly angry, but its like they've had their ideals beaten out of them with this drawn out struggle. Now there's a whole generation that has been raised with all this pent-up anger and the stress of being on the run and this sheer hate. They lose loved ones on a regular basis in such degrading ways, its doing something to them as a group. I'm worried they'll turn into the very thing they despise if they don't remember what they once stood for soon. This used to be a haven for idealists."

"Well, I guess they needed to become pragmatists. Out of necessity. You need pragmatists."

"Yes, but you need idealists for things to change. Idealists are often mocked, it's almost an insult to be called one in some circles, but you need people who can imagine a _better_ world if you ever want the one you're living in to improve." Elphaba said as she got up and strolled toward the glass separating them from the elements. She stared at the whirling swirls of snow and ice and hugged herself slightly. Fiyero came up behind her and turned her around to pull her into an embrace which she immediately returned.

**Usual request, review please.**


	29. Part 2 Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: SO not mine.**

**A/N: Yeah! I'm back to mulitple reviews! Thanks a heap to lizziemagic, Elphiethegreen and PurpleReader29. I've sent you all review replies. I think from now onI'm just going to send review replies to people who are signed in when they review and post the reply just when its an anonymous review. You guys are all awesome, thanks.**

**Okay, so last chapter of part 2. Here we get to see some more drama and find out a little more about what's going on with that Xorthion guy...Next chapter we will be skipping ahead a few years again. Please read and review.**

**Part 2 chapter 12.**

"Raye, let me in." Liir said as he pounded on his sister's door. There was no answer but he knew that she was there. "I'm not leaving, Raye. And I'll talk at this door until you open it—"

The door opened then and Rhonaraye crossed her arms over her chest, her head tilting in an argumentative way, the black-dyed curls slipping over her shoulder with the movement.

"You know, I'm sensing the development of a pattern with the ultimatums, here." She quipped in annoyance. She jerked her head in a motion to indicate for him to enter. He did so and she closed the door again.

"Keep your voice down. Zach's sleeping." She ordered as she strode back into her abode several strides ahead of him. When she stopped and turned around she had placed several feet between them.

"Okay. But like I told you, I'm not leaving this time. I want to know what happened to you."

"It's none of your business."

"I blew out my vocal chords screaming. I was writhing for a _week _in an agony that sure as hell _felt_ real to me. I think that _makes_ it my business."

"I felt your pain too back in that clearing. We're even." She retorted coldly.

"Yeah, right. An hour measured up to a week. That works out _how_?"

"Uh, since I _saved_ your butt?"

"Oh come on! This is ridiculous! Look, I know that someone tried to bind you! Mother recognized the scarring! What happened?"

"You _really_ think someone could actually bind _me_?" she demanded, her pride flaring at the mere suggestion. Her brother raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, moving to stand in a position reminiscent of bouncer at a club. Message: He was more then prepared for an argument if it had to happen. Raye rolled her eyes with a snort of frustration. If it got him out her hair, fine.

"What do you think happened?" she demanded, bridling "I blew the idiot up. No seriously, I actually blew him up. It was the Goblin Vizier himself, I think, but that's not really important. Was exploding him perhaps a little…_excessive_? Maybe, but to be honest I don't really care. It was a knee-jerk reaction. If someone had ever tried to violate you like that you'd lash out too! Look, it stopped him from going any further, made an example to anyone else that might want to try that particular method on me and stopped him from doing it to anyone else. It was quite a mess, smelled awful. I think I might have sent you that particular impression, though I can't be entirely sure, as you understand." She said. Her calm, emotionless account of that particular incident was chilling.

Liir stiffened at the sudden memory. Well that was at least _one_ random flash that made sense now. He had to agree, it _had_ been a revolting stench. He decided to switch tactics and topics.

"So…how's the new look working?" he inquired. His sister raised an eyebrow, noting the sudden turnabout but allowing it.

"Fine. People are being a pain about it of course, but they can go to Kumbrica's dungeon for all I care. I'm sick and tired of tripping over skirts all the time, especially in battle. These are much more practical."

"And…the hair?" he asked hesitantly. The mage's demeanor changed and she self-consciously reached up to pull a strand of her curly black hair in her fingers.

"The hair…was a rash move. I wasn't exactly thinking clearly." She conceded before nodding in a sort of unvoiced acknowledgement to…something. She let out a sigh and elaborated "I didn't want to be the '_Scarlet Mage'_ any more, okay? I was exhausted and drained and I wasn't _thinking_ clearly. But you know, I kind of like it anyway. I'll keep it a while, I think."

"Er…okay." Liir said. Dating Annette had taught him never to criticize a woman's hair _or_ her wardrobe. If she asked you what you thought, you told her she looked wonderful. If she actually _didn't_, well then you lied through your teeth. Thankfully, his sister was not one to fish for compliments and never asked for approval, at least not in terms of her wardrobe. He wasn't hugely interested in her fashion choices though. She started to turn away from him.

"What's the deal with the 'Scarlet Mage' then? And that-that Xorthion guy?"

"Please _don't,_ Liir." She snapped as she whirled around and pushed her hand out in a stopping motion.

"Sis, how can I help you if you won't—"

"_You can't help me_!" she half yelled. The instant the words left her mouth at that volume her head jerked in the direction of Zach's room. She swore under her breath and strode over to the door leading to the Colt's bedroom, closing it and whispering a one-way sound-dampening enchantment that would wear off in an hour or so and block any more yelling which may occur from interrupting the Mule's sleep.

"I'm your brother." Liir said in a quiet but clear tone when she came back in, "It's my _job_."

"Yeah, cause you've been great at that." She retorted cruelly before she could check herself. She instantly seemed to regret those words but it was too late. They had been said and could not be taken back.

"That's not fair." He said after a pause.

"Maybe it isn't. But neither is life." She said bitterly. Just then her eyes traveled to his pocket where a few petals of the rose were sticking out. She stiffened.

"What is that?" she demanded in a low, potentially dangerous tone. He followed her gaze and pulled out the bloom in confusion. She went from stiff to rigid. "Get. That. _Out_." She growled. A blaze of fire erupted in the fireplace randomly when she said this, though strangely enough it burned an icy blue and silver.

"That is **it**!" Liir exclaimed "You throw fits at the most random things and then never explain anything! Why can't you just _talk to me_? That's all I want!"

"Why can't _he_ just leave me alone? We don't always get what we want, dear brother."

"I thought girls were supposed to be just itching to talk about their feelings all the time!"

"That's in a romantic relationship, not between siblings. Besides, I thought guys _hated_ to do that kind of thing. You're actually lucking out here!" Raye snapped.

"Why did that mage guy try to talk me over to his side first back in that clearing? Why did he send you this flower? Raye, what did he do to you?" Her twin asked. She shook her head and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. Liir suddenly thought of Candle and Raye's gentle, _understanding_ treatment of her and his eyes widened.

"Sweet Oz, he didn't…did he rape you?"

"What? NO!" Rhonaraye exclaimed in angry surprise. She started to pace in her agitation.

"Did he try?" the young man pressed

"_No_! Lurline, **NO**!" she cried vehemently "No, he'd never…he's not that kind of monster!" she suddenly sounded defensive as a rush of unwanted emotion flared up too powerfully for her to suppress it. Her brother didn't catch onto that right away though,

"No, he's just a psychotic, perverted creep with no soul!" he exclaimed. His sister seemed to almost deflate in sudden defeated weariness.

"Stop it…" Rhonaraye whispered as she turned away from him and hugged herself.

"Sweet Oz, Nari! I know he's capable of anything, what did he do? I mean, he's a creep, that's obvious. It wouldn't surprise me if he was more into the dead then the living or something else creepy like that—"

"Stop it!" his twin yelled suddenly "You don't know what you're talking about, you don't know him!"  
Liir was affronted and hurt at this.

"WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM?" He roared.

"BECAUSE I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM!" she screamed back as she whipped around, her silver eyes flashing with a whole spectrum of emotions as tears welled up in them. A sound somewhere between a groan and a scream escaped her lips at this confession and she fisted her hands in her curly hair, striding to the other end of the room in retreat. Liir stumbled back and just stood there for a long time as he absorbed this new revelation.

"What?" he finally asked tightly

"Now you know your _darling_ twin's dirty little secret. Though, it's not really a secret. I'm surprised no one told you, they're certainly never going to let me forget it!" She spat out bitterly as she threw her hands down to her sides.

"That creep tortured me!" he exclaimed furiously.

"_Don't you think I know that_?" she shrieked, tears falling freely down her cheeks now. She dug the heel of her hand into one eye and took a long, shaky breath before she continued "I fell in love with a man who would turn around and try to betray all of Oz, who would succeed in killing my best friend and who would then torture my brother. How do you think that feels? Huh? How do you think it feels to know that Zach would still have his parents if I hadn't brought that man to the rebellion in the first place? If I hadn't vouched for him? Or if I had just listened to the people who didn't trust him instead of getting angry and defensive? Or-or even better, if I'd just paid attention to the signs and booted him out myself? Who knows how many are dead because of me? Huh? How many do you think? _HOW DO YOU THINK THAT FEELS_?"

Liir was flabbergasted. Speechless.  
"Wh-" he sputtered in shock "Why? Why him? You're-you were _never_ boy crazy, you were always the smart one, the sensible one! Oz you prided yourself on your good sense! What in Kumbrica's name, Raye! _Why him_?"

"Because _he_ actually _wanted_ **_me_**!" she exclaimed in anguish, bending over slightly as though in some kind of pain as one hand went to cover her face while the other made a fist across her stomach as she slowly sank to her knees. Again there was an appalled pause.

"_What_?"

"You don't understand." she sobbed "He wasn't always like this. I _swear_ he wasn't always like this..." she completely broke down crying at that point. A rare and disturbing sight. Liir felt her despair even through her well-built walls. Slowly he came over and knelt down next to her.

"_Make_ me understand." he said gently, pleadingly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Raye looked up and met his gaze before uncharacteristically wiping her nose on her sleeve. They shifted slightly to sit against the wall.

"How'd you...meet him?" Liir prompted almost unwillingly. It wasn't precisely a warm question, but it lacked the accusatory tone that it had held previously. She swiped her cheeks with her 4-fingered hand and stared down at her lap. Finally she began speak in a strained voice.

"It was years ago." she began quietly, her voice ever so slightly hoarse. "Only a week or so after my disastrous meeting with the Wizard. I was on my own. A fugitive." she laughed with a bitter humorlessness and took a deep breath "From everyone. I was sneaking around all day to avoid, well everybody. Sleeping in caves and hollow trees. I was cold. I was angry. I was hungry. I was scared and believe it or not I was lonely. I'd never felt so alone.

"We both tried to shelter in the same cave one night. Startled each other like a pair of horses, not sure whether to fight or flee. In the end we just sort of ended up sharing the space. We kept our distance, but started to chat from our respective ends of the cave. It was...nice to have someone to talk to. He was traveling alone as well, exploring. He was a perfect gentleman. Introduced himself as Tristan. He didn't try anything! I was prepared for him to, and believe me when I say that if he had it wouldn't have ended well for him. In the morning he asked if he could accompany me. I told him that I didn't have anything against him and so I didn't care what he did either way. He stuck around. It took a few days since we were both hiding it, but eventually we figured out that, impossible as it seemed, we were both mages of considerable power. I'm sure you know that in the past if there were two mages of any power they could very likely be one another's downfall. He still stayed. When I pointed this out he said that he was willing to 'take his chances' if I was."

She started pacing again as she continued.

"He had plenty of chances to leave. He didn't need me for anything, or so I thought. Powerful mages are almost always loners and thanks to the rare nature of our powers we usually figure them out alone, which both of us had been doing well enough before. There wasn't anything I could do for him that he couldn't do for himself, not in terms of magic. He was smart and resourceful, so he didn't need me to look after him or riddle things out for him or any other mundane things like that. I didn't have any money so he couldn't swindle me. As for other things that might spring to the mind of a young male, you should have seen some of those girls we came across during our occasional trips to market places were practically throwing themselves at him! For once, I thought 'wow. Someone wants my company without an ulterior motive'. Obviously I turned out to be _wrong,_ but still. For the first time in a very long time I didn't feel like I was being _used_, if he did _need_ me, it wasn't to _use_ me. That was what I thought at the time! See, Tristan didn't _have_ to stay with me, but he did. Okay? He did. He _chose_ to. He chose _me_." she was still crying, tears sliding silently down her face. Liir was a little confused. She noticed this.

"Don't you get it?" she demanded in anguished exasperation, her bright eyes both angry and pleading at the same time "Liir, you saw him before! You know that illusion he had on in the clearing, the handsome forester? _That_ was what he looked like as Tristan! That was what he looked like when I fist met him. He was ridiculously good-looking and smart and powerful and yes, he was charming and respectful too! He could have had his pick of the ladies and he picked me! And you know what? _No one else had_! At the time that I met him and at the time he'd started to court me I was completely on my own and not by choice. No one wanted to come with me, no one wanted to _be_ with me! I asked Elphaba to join me and she refused, I asked for you to come with me and you just _sat_ there like I'd hit you over the head with a dumbbell. If I'd even proposed the idea to Annette I think she might have fainted! The rebellion kicked me to the curb like so much trash the second I stopped being their little lapdog and then even my best friend turned me down. Sweet Oz, even Farro had stayed behind to be captured instead of come with his own daughter!"

Liir was shaking his head in wide-eyed guilty denial and defensive anger

"Nari that's not-"

"Fair?" She interjected harshly "Maybe not but since when are emotions logical? Any one of those rejections I could have managed easily! They were all perfectly reasonable, you're right and at least one of them was blatantly for my own good. But how would you feel to be unanimously voted the 'less appealing' option? To be universally shown the door? Well that's what happened to me! So yeah, yeah I was flattered when Tristan started to court me. A real, live boy was courting me like I was the greatest catch he could ever have imagined. I fell for it and I fell hard for him. And I thought, 'wow. This...amazing guy actually wants me.' So yeah. I was the idiot who got played like a kumbrica-cursed harp."

She let out a huffing snort.

"Turns out he was a spy all along. He tried to tell me that he didn't know I was a rebel, that he truly had just been traveling when he met me. He tried to say that '_nothing between the two of us had ever been a lie'_. Yeah _**right**_. I should have known better."

"Nari…" Liir interjected. She ignored him and her speech suddenly went from tired and beaten to heated and angry.

"Tristan—Xorthion, he isn't just responsible for the deaths of dear friends or of making me into the inadequate teenaged mother of a grieving little orphaned Mule! He didn't just betray me, he made me look like an idiot! I became one of those stupid females who allowed her feelings for a _guy_ override her good judgement and believe me when I say that it was _not_ a position I had ever expected or wanted to be in..."  
Liir sensed that this was one of the blows that particularly smarted for her. His sister was proud. And she prided herself most on her intelligence and sensibility. Now, in addition to the loss of her friends and her lover, she had lost her self-respect. She might have been able to deal with the deaths of her friends, maybe even with the betrayal eventually, but he didn't know if she could handle losing that self-respect.

"And the rose?" he asked, uncertain of whether or not he should ask this, but he had to know. "What is that? Why do you hate it so much?"

Her nostrils flared and she looked away

"That's him _mocking_ me. He keeps trying to feed me this crap that he was telling the truth when he said that he 'loves' me." she spat out the word 'love' like it held a bad taste in her mouth, at least in terms of the context "He supposedly made that rose for me with his powers. I don't know how dumb he thinks I am! Does he really believe that I would be stupid enough to actually fall for something like that after all he's _done_? Sweet Oz, I HATE HIM!" she raged as she pounded her fist into the wall next to the window, creating a large crack and making Liir jump. "I hate him, I _**hate**_ him!" Her shoulders started to heave again as wept anew. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt an arm move around hers shoulder. However, it was just Liir. He put both his arms around her and held his sister tightly, a tear sliding down his own cheek silently. At first she tried half-heartedly to push him away, but eventually she let go and sobbed, clinging to him.

How long they sat there like that, neither of them knew. But Liir hugged his sister for as long as it took for her to cry out all her tears. He even shed a few of his own. After both sets of tear ducts seemed to have been spent they simply sat with each other. For a long time neither said anything, but eventually it was Rhonaraye who broke the silence, her voice hoarse.

"He got me out, you know." She rasped quietly. "Tristan. After I'd been held in that…place for who knows how long he came charging in, brandishing his staff and his powers. My jailors were ready to start another session, I was sure this one would finally kill me and I was hoping it would. But before they could begin he came charging in, demolished the room, scooped me up and then carried me out of there. Next thing I knew, I was in Doctor Akota's clinic with him sleeping in a chair by my bedside. It wasn't until we went back to headquarters that I found out that he had set the trap in the safe house that killed Jack. That he'd been the traitor all along."

"I'm sorry." Liir said as he rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

"Not your fault." She muttered as she straightened and pulled out of the hug. Without realizing it they shifted in unison so that they were leaning on each other's backs instead of against the wall, each bringing one knee up to rest their arm on in a perfect mirroring of position. "I'm sorry about…what happened to you."

"That wasn't your fault either." Her brother said.

"Thanks for lying." She murmured. He rolled his eyes and tried again to deny it but she wasn't interested in being cleared of her perceived blame apparently. After a while she asked "Do you…want to talk about it?"

Starting was difficult, but once he had done so it was alarmingly easy to continue. He told her all about what had happened in the clearing and didn't stop there. He soon found himself telling her about Trism all over again, though it was nice to do so in person this time. He even told her some things about that particular failed romance that he hadn't before, that he had barely been able to admit to _himself _before. He even told her about his conflicted feelings over his grandfather since his disillusionment with the current establishment in Oz.

The conversation eventually moved to happier topics and soon they found themselves even finishing each other's sentences. The pair talked well into the night, slowly starting to feel almost like...like a normal set of twinned siblings, impossible as it sounded. When they both found themselves yawning they decided to call it a night, or an extremely early morning.

"It's nice, finally being able to just…be twins." Raye remarked.

"Yeah." Liir agreed. He twisted his head around to look at her "From now on, I say we act the part,"

"Full time," She finished for him, also twisting her head around to look at him. "I watch your back, you watch mine."

They both smirked.

"Spit shake?" he offered

"That's gross." She retorted.

"Would you go back on a pact signed in saliva?" he pointed out

"Okay, seriously, _what_ makes you think that's any harder to do than a more hygienic handshake?"

"Because you tell everyone that the other person actually _did_ a spit shake if they ever backed out on their end of the bargain." Liir replied. Rhonaraye considered this a second and then snorted, her dry chuckle containing actual humor for the first time that night as they got to their feet.

"Fair enough." She finally chuckled with a shrug before horking up a healthy amount of moisture onto her palm. He did the same and they shook on it. Raye made a face and wiped her hand on the back of her booted calf, though she was laughing as she did so. "Wow, I was right. That was _disgusting_!"

"Hey, come on. We got nearly 19 years of sibling ridiculousness to catch up on!"

"True, very true." She agreed before sighing and rubbing her neck tiredly with the hand she hadn't used to spit-shake. "I have to go check on Zach. That sound-dampening spell will probably have worn off by now."

Liir nodded as she started to walk away. His sister paused at the door to the Colt's room and turned back slightly.

"Thanks, Liir." She said. He smiled in return.

There was a lot of healing to be done, but the process had begun.

88888888

The next day Rhonaraye was overjoyed to find that Ralimla had returned. No mention was made of the heart-to-heart she'd had with her brother, but it didn't need to be discussed verbally. Every once in a while they'd catch each other's eye and smile slightly, still laughing at themselves for the childish method of sealing their all-too-serious sibling pact against the world. The difference in both of them was very noticeable to those who knew them, though. It was as though the two had managed to have a great weight lifted off their shoulders.

The day after the Bear had returned, after she'd had a chance to rest up, they had one large family dinner. Their first, in fact. One link was still technically absent, but it was unlikely that it would ever really be accepted by several members. Elphaba, for one, considered her family to be complete for the first time (barring the absence of those who were already dead, which she could do nothing about). She didn't _say_ this of course in the interest of sparing Liir's feelings, for her son still loved his grandfather dearly even if he hadn't been seeing eye to eye with some of the old man's policies any more.

What they actually ate no one would remember later, but everyone would be able to recall laughter and fun: listening to Ijiri and Glinda bicker: Dr. Dillamond providing illuminating and educational conversation topics, his voice stronger than it had been in years: Zach with his childlike innocence and mischief: the occasional Flying Monkey appearance: Ralimla with her easy charm: Rhonaraye and Elphaba with their wit: the mother and daughter and brother/son with the occasional magic trick: Fiyero with his amusing boneless stunts. Even Candle and Dr. Akota later joined. It was promising to be one of the best evenings they'd ever seen.

Unfortunately, it was not to last. Before the night could draw to a close, just before Rhonaraye was about to put Zach to bed, in fact, Elphaba's most trusted messenger Monkey, the young female, came zooming in, panting. She hopped over on the knuckles of one hand with a roll of parchment clutched tightly in the other. She offered it to Rhonaraye. The young woman exchanged nervous glances the others in the room before bending down to take the paper and unroll it. Elphaba quickly moved beside her to read it, one emerald hand on her daughter's shoulder. Neither of their faces betrayed anything.

"Well?" Fiyero asked after several long moments. Raye rolled it up and handed it to him before clearing her throat.

"Ralimla, could I please ask you to put Zach to bed for me tonight?" she asked gravely. The Bear nodded. The Mule wasn't so happy about this.

"But…why?" he whined. She bent down and kissed his nose

"I have to go to an Emergency Council meeting. Please Zach, this is very important."

"You always say that." He grumbled. She sighed and ran a hand through his forelock before standing again

"I'm sorry everyone, I have to go. Before Kynot tries to do anything too stupid in Princess Nastoya's absence." She muttered the last sentence as started striding out. Elphaba followed her.

"I'll catch up with you." She said. Her daughter nodded and continued walking. The others looked to the green woman for answers, as she had known they would. She took a deep breath before telling them in a simple straightforward manner.

"The Wizard just declared a state of War. Against the Goblins."

* * *

**Please review. I would particularly like some feedback concerning stuff in part three; how much OC action are you guys interested in in terms of stuff between Raye and Tristan/Xorthion? That won't be all about what part 3 is, obviously there will be focuses on Candle/Liir, Fiyeraba, and other ficverse stuff, but the amount of time spent on the OCs is currently flexible. Basically the difference will be how many flashback sequences I plug in about the two mages.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and please drop me a line!**


	30. Part 3 Chapter 1

**A/N: Ihaven't had a chance to edit this re-write much but my weekend is going to be insane so I'm just going to post it now. Long story short, please excuse typos. I will get back and fix them later on. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are all wonderful of course. **

** So, basically the feedback I got was that you guys would like OC action, alright. More then happy to oblige. I have to say it was a surprise, a very pleasant one though :)**

**Now, I did have one anonymous review so I'll respond to it right her****e since I can't PM them**

**TheBeautifullyTragicAuthor: **Alright, thanks. Duly noted as you saw above.

**Continued feedback would be awesome, hint hint. **

**Part 3 chapter 1**

_The others looked to the green woman for answers, as she had known they would. She took a deep breath before telling them in a simple straightforward manner. _

"_The Wizard just declared a state of War. Against the Goblins." _

3 years later

The streets of the Emerald City were largely deserted for that hour of the night, not that it was exactly vibrant at any time lit by moon or sun these days. Deep within the inner sanctum of the Emerald palace was particularly lonely. One old man sat in a chair next to a giant metallic head, his distant memories and the silence of the darkened room his only companions in the solitude of the chamber.

The Wizard spent most of his nights in this manner, staring at photographs taken during Liir's childhood, the happiest days of his life. His forays into the business of running his dictatorship took up less of his attention as the war wore on, as did his personal grooming.

He had a small table, which in the past had been kept hidden, out in full view. On it was a framed picture that had been crudely doctored from two different snap shots. He had first acquired a picture of the green witch from her days at Shiz in which she was leaning in slightly towards someone (originally a school-aged Glinda and Nessarose) and smiling in a shy but genuine way. He had cut out Elphaba's form from the rest of the picture and glued it onto another one of him standing with his arm around someone after the unveiling of his 'fantastical human shape' that he had done in order to spend time with his growing grandson without the hassle of keeping it a secret. The result of this arts-and-crafts experiment was that it looked like the witch had been happily posing with her father. The alteration was crude and obvious for he lacked the skill and tools to do a proper job but it didn't matter, his imagination did the rest.

"_I am a sentimental man_…" he sang softly to himself in a choked, slightly off-key voice

He would stare at this picture for hours on end. Stare at the smile he had so rarely seen on his daughter's face, the light in her eyes, the small dimple in one cheek…He wondered what she had been like as a child. He had made inquiries in Munchkinland about perhaps getting pictures of the Thropp family but they were difficult to come by apparently and the ones that could be found mainly of a girl in a wheelchair with a stuffy looking official-type man. On a few there was a very faint green smudge in a corner. It seemed that Elphaba had been on the other end of the camera lens for most of her life. As time progressed and the girl in the wheelchair got older the photographs became _very_ good as her sister got more practice. It seemed that his Elphaba was a fair photographer.

The old man clutched the edge of the album on his lap as tears of agonizing loneliness pricked at his eyes. He sniffed

"_I am a sentimental man_," he began again, his halting voice echoing off the walls in a reminder of his utter solitude "_Who always longed to be…a…_a father." He gave up on the sing-song voice for the last two words and choked on them. He bowed his head.

_His_ Elphaba. There was the real catch in all this. As much as he longed for it she would never be _his_. He had contributed to her DNA, but nothing else. She would never call him 'father' and would never think of him as such. Not once in her 18 years residence in the Emerald City had she ever allowed that word to escape her lips in connection to him. That pompous twit Frexbar Thropp would always have that hold over her, no matter how he had treated her. The Wizard knew that the mere knowledge of their biological connection sickened her.

The old man's gaze moved to the little boy whose growth was documented in the albums upon albums stored in the libraries and indeed was spread across the scattered pages strewn about the floor even now. He had been a good grandfather to Liir, no one could deny that and no one did, not even the green witch herself. But not even the child's love for him had swayed Elphaba. For the boy's sake she had tolerated him but no more, consciously resisting making any kind of connection with her father. She was polite and civil, but that was where it ended.

He had hoped that she would come around eventually but she never had. Then they had made that most disastrous discovery: Elphaba's second baby, Liir's _twin_ had not died at birth as they had all believed, but had indeed survived and grown up. And he had done the same thing to his granddaughter as he had done to her mother. In doing so he had forever ended any chance of reconciliation with his willful, powerful daughter, guaranteed that he would never get to know his granddaughter and even, to his horror, alienated Liir. The young man had been kinder in his method of severing ties. He had done it gradually, slowly, so that the old man could— and initially had – interpret it as the normal distancing from parents (or in this case grandparents) as a young person grew into their own. He had not wanted to hurt the Wizard's feelings. However, when Liir's new connection with the rebellion was made public knowledge he had made no move to contact his Grandfather.

Elphaba had not been so mindful for the emotional state of the man who had ruined her life. She and Glinda had been very public and very dramatic about their defection. It had been the beginning of the end of his regime. Others had followed the witches' example, the first of whom being Ms. Uppland's cousin. Annette had not been a socialite for a while, instead focusing on a very promising career as an architect. She had picked up and walked right out of the City barely a month after the two Witches had.

Partially to alleviate his own anger and fear and partially on Morrible's urging the Wizard had declared war on the Goblins, desperate to find them another Common Enemy to unite against. Unfortunately he had been playing right into the Goblins' hands. Their King had been itching for a war and now he had one. So the Wizard had gone back to plan A and cracked down hard on the Animals and other such undesirables, trying to get them under control. It had been a disastrous blunder. Revolts had erupted everywhere in retaliation. Talks of a possible alliance with the Vinkus were completely shut down and his forces had been spread far too thin.

The War had nearly been over then and there. His recanting and pleas for reconciliation had come just in time, but the Rebellion now had them where they wanted him. If he didn't want to be overrun by a Goblin Horde he needed them. They had relished having him at their mercy and snapped up every offer he could make short of turning himself into their custody. Many had not been willing to make any sort of human alliance without that critical condition to the bargain but their leader, a wise old she-Elephant, had drawn the line with a cryptic remonstration about how the 'treatment of those beneath you defined character' and something about a karmic sort of philosophy or… something. He hadn't been paying attention to the details. All he had known was that he could remain in his palace of Emeralds as long as the Animal servants (alright, slaves) were released.

It turned out not to make much of a difference. His palace was slowly becoming a prison anyway and in more ways then one for in the increasing amounts of time he spent brooding over a bottle of liqueur the same circular thoughts gnawed away at him.

He would never know his granddaughter.

He would never get back the relationship he had once had with his grandson.

His daughter would never call him father, never love him and never ever forgive him.

And he wasn't entirely sure that he blamed them.

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Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, a young man stirred fitfully in his sleep.

Liir grunted slightly as he tossed and turned, sweat beading on his forehead in the throes of a familiar unpleasant dream. He remembered a time when they had stopped for a while, just after Rhonaraye had brought him to the rebels. Why they had quieted, he didn't know.

At the moment, however, he was trapped in a strange dream that was jumbled, frightening and curious at the same time…

_Bombs were flying, children and other civilians were wailing as panicking as they ran straight into the line of fire or freezing up like startled deer in their attempt to escape. He ducked behind a slab of rock and held his hands over his ears a bomb was dropped meters from him. He opened his eyes to see himself splattered with blood that wasn't his own and recoiled in horror from the sight of a limb without an owner…_

_The scene changed abruptly, as it is apt to do in dreams._

_He was running again, up claustrophobic set of twisting stone steps within some kind of tower or another. His heart was pounding, he could feel a burst of adrenaline as he sprinted madly towards his destination. He tripped once and growled out an exclamation and kept going. It was life or death! He had to get there in time, he just had to! Ignoring his body's screams of protest he tore up the final flight and, without hesitation, rammed the door with his shoulder. After the third spell-enhanced try it gave in…_

…_DreamLogic again, he was lying on the ground amidst and beneath a pile of rubble. He disengaged himself from the piece trapping him and started to try and scramble to his feet. It was then that the brief, denial induced stunning that had resulted in a sort of temporary numbness faded away and it hit him in full force…_

Suddenly the young man started to jerk and seize in his bed as though having a fit of some kind. He let out little wincing growls of extreme discomfort and started to shake. As he was doing this, down the hall a young woman bolted out of bed with a shuddering gasp at the unconscious distress signal he sent her through their magically-enforced twin bond. Barely a minute later the door to Liir's room blasted open and a tall, slender young woman with deep red hair flew in. She was closely followed by a shorter, dark-haired Quadling girl and after her came a large Bear and a great, shaggy dog.

"Liir! LIIR! WAKE UP!" Raye yelled, more than a little worried. Killyjoy barked loudly in her brother's ear to help her out.

Liir's visions had been getting progressively worse as he got older, and were terribly strong when he slept. Rhonaraye knew, for she often shared them through their mental connection which had strengthened over the last four years. Dr. Akota and Candle exchanged worried glances. Yelling, shaking and even slapping him wasn't working! Killyjoy even jumped onto his bed and thumped his large front paws onto the man's chest and he was still trapped in his own powers! Looking around wildly the mage desperately grabbed the glass of icy water by her brother's bedside and threw it in his face. The shock of the sudden cold and dampness finally jerked him out of his vision with a gasp as he bolted into a sitting position in a movement powerful and sudden enough to slide the dog off him. He was drenched in a cold sweat (then again, that seemed to be the only temperature in the drafty old castle they were currently staying in). His breath came in short gasps and he shivered.

"Sweet Oz!" He panted, shaken. Running a hand through his hair, his eyes were wide as he groaned "Oh sweet Oz…that was not pleasant."

"I'll say." His twin agreed, annoyance and relief mingled in her voice. "Which one was it?"

"I don't know." he replied "It's changing. I don't know why, but it's changing. Oh Lurline that was not pleasant…" the latter half of his reply was more of a groaning sigh than anything.

"Oh Liir." Candle whispered as she took his hand in her own.

The pair were finally an item after what had literally been years of dancing around it. Candle and Glinda of all people had become friends, something which had proven to be very beneficial to both of them. The Good Witch of the North had been very good at helping to bring the timid little quadling out of her shell. The pair had become very good gal-pals and both had remained single and thriving for a good year, though Glinda and Ijiri had maintained their flirty-hostility type of bickering with one another the entire time. That particular pair still wasn't official yet though everyone was expecting it to happen soon.

Candle and Liir, on the other hand, were a different story. To everyone's pleasant surprise he had waited for her. He was a perfect gentleman with her, still was, and never pushed her. What was much more unexpected was the fact that a year and a half ago the Quadling asked _him_ out on a date. She had known that he didn't want to rush her into anything and was being very cautious. So, under Glinda's advice and urging, she had taken the initiative herself. They had been going strong ever since.

It showed. He looked at her and then pulled her close. She not only was _not_ frightened or scared off by the touch, she held him just as close. Candle knew that these dreams terrified him even if his male pride wouldn't allow him to admit it. He didn't talk about it to anyone. Not out loud anyway, but she knew about the connection between Liir and his sister.

Doctor Akota and Rhonaraye backed out of the room to allow the love-birds some privacy as Candle comforted her boyfriend. The Bear ambled off back to his own rooms. The young mage, on the other hand, seemed to almost melt into the shadows. She hung back ever so slightly and discreetly watched the pair from just beyond the doorway for a few moments. Liir was getting the hang of keeping some of his thoughts private when he wanted to, even if neither of them bothered much anymore with that. The twins had few secrets from one another, but they were still adults from opposite genders. Privacy as therefore something they were very much interested in at times.

And this, Raye mused as she lingered, was such a private moment. She was staying out of her brother's thoughts right now to give him that privacy with Candle, but she still couldn't help but look at the way they gazed into each other's eyes and murmured to each other in a tone too low for her to pick out the words. The young woman felt a twinge of longing at the sight of such a tender moment. She finally turned away and started to move quietly back to her own quarters, feeling suddenly very lonely.

Before she had gone very far her parents turned the corner. The scarecrow looked as he always did, not exactly having much option in terms of clothing changes but the green witch had clearly just gotten out of bed. Her dressing gown was a little disheveled after having been thrown on hastily and a few tell-tale pieces of straw were still clinging to the long black rope of hair draped over her shoulder.

"Rhona-Raye, is everything alright?" Fiyero asked worriedly

"We heard there was a commotion, something wrong with Liir?" Elphaba asked in a tone that bordered on frantic. Rhonaraye put up her hands in a stopping motion

"He's fine, he's fine. It was just another dream. Candle's with him, he's fine."

"You sure?" the green woman double checked. Her daughter nodded. She could see some of the tension flow out of the green woman at this and smiled ever so slightly and patted her shoulder as she started to walk past her. There was still a stiltedness to this action on occasion, as there was now, but she was trying. Before she went much further ELphaba covered her hand with her own green one.

"Are _you_ alright?" she enquired, Fiyero shifting towards their daughter as well to silently back up the question. Rhonaraye looked from her father to her mother once and then nodded once again, forcing a semi-believable smile onto her face.

"I'm fine too. I didn't actually share this dream; I just heard when he called for help. Really, everything is alright. He's with Candle right now." She reassured her parents while warning them that their grown-up son would probably rather not see his parents at the moment. He still had some pride. His twin and his girlfriend were one thing, but his parents were altogether another matter at the moment.

Fiyero and Elphaba still didn't look convinced.

"Look, I-I'd really like to get back to bed, I-I'm really tired." She said, pointing in the general direction of her room. That did it. Even if their parental paranoia was still tingling they weren't about to stand in the way in case she was telling the truth; Raye was a known insomniac. This time it was the green witch's turn to nod, though it was harder to convince the Scarecrow as the young woman started to walk away, her dressing gown floating out behind her in an almost eerie fashion.

"Rhonaraye," He called after her. She stopped and turned slightly. She met his gaze evenly

"What is it Farro?" She asked. The scarecrow met her gaze for a few more seconds in a look that silently conveyed his doubts about her sincerity in the excuse she used to get her concerned parents out of her hair.

"Goodnight." Was all he said. She smiled, a little more genuinely this time.

"Night Farro." She replied before disapearing into the shadows with alarming skill. He eyed the space where she had been standing a moment ago.

"Elphie-Fae," he said. She looked at him and he sighed before meeting that silvery gaze "I'm worried about our children."

The green woman nodded.

"Me too. I'm worried about Oz period."

888888

Fiyero's suspicion about his daughter was justified. Rhonaraye did not return to bed. She wouldn't be able to sleep now. Her brother's quieting distress still resounded in the back of her mind but that was not it. She closed her door behind her and leaned against it a minute, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the wood.

3 years. The war had been going on for 3 long, bloody years. Tensions were high and alliances were shaky. Betrayal had been a recurring theme. Not only had Glinda's ex Chuffery been revealed to be the Goblin King's ally and new courtier, but Morrible's most trusted agent, the Tin Man, had also swapped sides after a pathetic attempt on Elphaba's life. Others from the rebellion had gone turncoat when the alliance had been made with the Wizard. Rhonaraye had expected General Kynot to do so, but to his credit he had remained loyal to his cause and the ailing Princess Nastoya. The She-Elephant was slowly dying, anyone could see that, but considering the fact that she was rumored to have lived for centuries no one was judging. The same could not be said for the Wizard who seemed to be very quickly going to seed. Physically fragile leaders symbolic of the extremely fragile alliance that bound most of Oz together.

And so the war continued. Losses were heavy on both sides.

Pushing herself off the door the Mage made her way slowly to the rather expensive gift her old friend Annette had given her a couple of years ago; a full length mirror with a beautiful and ornately carved frame to replace the one she had broken when she had given herself an impromptu makeover. She had kept the clothing style, standing firmly by the fact that they were a lot more practical in battle as well as being more comfortable. However, she had not bothered with the hair. It took too much effort and she was too busy with everything else. She hadn't re-dyed it once and barely ever remembered to trim it. The result was that the long curls were nearly back to being waist-length and were once again the deep scarlet that the rose was named for.

Rhonaraye did not dwell on her reflection; she rarely did for she already knew what was there. She was handsome rather than beautiful with a nose and jaw too strong to be considered conventionally beautiful for a human female and her high cheekbones were perhaps a little too prominent. Not that any of that was really what people looked at. If anyone got passed the 'eccentric clothing', (people could be SO ridiculous) the bright silver eyes she had inherited from her mother had been made only more startling by her frequent and heavy use of mage craft tended to captivate and sometimes alarm people. When those didn't get their attention it was the long scar along her cheekbone.

She was at a loss to do. Zach was enjoying a sleepover with some of his friends so she didn't need to check on him.

Pictures of the little Mule were always present where she stayed. Currently she had a recent one sitting on the desk in her room. Being an Animal, Zach's growth was somewhere between that of a mule and a human boy so that while he was a little over 5, he was closer to a preteen in terms of maturity than a very young child.

With a sigh the young Mage sank into the chair at said desk and pulled out her grimmerie along with a sheet of parchment and a quill. Reading this mysterious language of magic was one area of Sorcery where Liir surpassed his powerful sister; he could simply pick it up and read it as though it were a perfectly ordinary book but Raye really had to concentrate to focus the mysterious moving letters. She often found that copying them down onto an un-enchanted page to force them into stillness made everything much easier and once she reached that stage, it was difficult to match the level of understanding and knowledge she had achieved on the subject of magic.

Unfortunately even if she couldn't sleep her body and mind were both still tired. The adrenaline rush that had accompanied the panic over Liir had ebbed, leaving her feeling drained. She twirled the quill in one hand and then in a display of the additional unusual ability she shared with her mother, switched it to the other hand and tried to write a few more sentences. It was to no avail. She sighed and leaned her elbows on the table, her forehead.

Raye closed her eyes when she felt the deft fingers of warm hands gently brush against her neck as her scarlet curls were gently pushed over her shoulder, but she didn't stiffen or try to pull away.

"So _tense_." A familiar male voice whispered in her ear.

"You would be too after practically rebuilding a cave to get a trapped platoon out." She murmured, knowing full well that if anyone else walked in they would see her talking to herself.

"Why do you let them push you so hard? Take you for granted like that?" he demanded as the gentle yet strong touch worked at some of the knots around her neck and shoulders. It shouldn't _work_. It shouldn't _soothe_. Apart from anything and everything else he wasn't actually _there_ and yet she felt the aching muscles start to unwind and relax under the incorporeal touch. She knew it wasn't real, but it felt real.

"You have to stop doing this, Xorthion." Rhonaraye sighed even as she leaned her neck back.

"Why do you call me that?" he asked sadly

"It's your name. You chose it." She replied as she opened her eyes and stared absentmindedly into space. "And you need to stop entering my mind. That connection was made a long time ago under very different circumstances. Stop clinging to it. Let it die."

"To you I want to be Tristan. I want your intelligence, your fire, your companionship, your love…I don't want your fear." He insisted as he bent down and kissed the side of her neck.

"I don't fear you." She replied truthfully. "And you're evading the point. When we forged this connection we were very different people. You might be able to project yourself into an illusion here but I won't give you anything. You won't get any information here."

"I know that. I'm not looking for battle plans or tactics." He insisted. The pale Mage smiled thinly "And it takes two to maintain this link. You can and do keep me away easily, much more easily than your brother. Does he even know about this? The connection you share with him has always been a part of you and always will. Ours was intentionally forged."

The redhead stood in a graceful motion and turned to look the illusion in the face. It was, of course, impeccable. A perfect (if ever so slightly translucent and glowing) image of the man who had gone by Tristan to everyone with his curly brown hair and tanned skin set against bright golden eyes. This bore little similarity to the unusually pale, cold, distant man that he was now.

Miles away the man who called himself Xorthion was in his own secluded, solitary chambers where an equally translucent and glowing image of the beautiful mage appeared to be rising in that same smooth motion from his own mahogany chair and turning towards him, those silver eyes staring into him. He felt his breath catch as it always did.

"I stay out of your mind. I don't think it's that unreasonable of me to ask you to return the favor." She stated calmly.

"It takes two to keep this tie alive." He reminded her, drinking in her face. "Even if it didn't have the frailty of being consciously created, you keep your brother out. His foothold in your mind is much stronger. I shouldn't be that difficult to keep away."

"I'm tired." She replied evenly with a partial eyeroll as she started to walk away from him.

"Part of you wants to take me back." He pushed with just a hint of desperation in his tone as he took a few steps after her. "Part of you knows that we neither of us is ever going to be complete without each other." She stopped.

"See, that's where you're wrong." Rhonaraye said after a pause.

"No, I'm not. In fact, I can't help but wonder if pushing yourself to such exhaustion isn't just an excuse to let your guard down so that we can see each other through this connection!"

"Oh, the _arrogance_ of that statement!" She said frostily as those silver eyes flashed even while he continued to speak.

"Please, listen to me. Just…one hour. One hour where we don't fight and we go back to just being Tristan and Raye. What do you think?"

She again turned so that she was in a three-quarter profile and he could see just how her wild red curls draped over the shoulders and the way her pale dressing gown seemed to almost float around her. Internally he flinched whenever he saw the scars she bore, but it never detracted from her appearance, not to him anyway. She met his gaze unflinchingly, her eyes holding neither fear nor superior arrogance.

"I think this is a bad idea and that you should stop doing this." She told him simply. Xorthion felt something hit the pit of his stomach. He was pretty sure it was his heart. Rhonaraye was always firm in her refusal. Lurline help the man who tried the 'no means yes' thing on her, not that the other Mage would dream of it. She reserved the right that everyone (male and female) should have to change her mind should new information come to light on something as was only reasonable, but 'no' _never_ meant 'yes'. Ever. And there was no way you could force something like that with someone as powerful and quick witted as she was.

Rhonaraye continued to meet his eyes evenly, her own gaze revealing nothing to him.

"Leave." She said as she raised her maimed hand palm out in a very simple, but definitive gesture.

The command was not kind, but it wasn't cruel either. Nevertheless it had its impact. The young woman's image faded into the dark as she shut the 'door' to their magically-created tie until she disappeared altogether. In Rhonaraye's chambers the same thing had happened to the translucent likeness of Tristan/Xorthion. She was left in a solitary, lonely room.

Alone. As she was likely to remain.

A single, icy tear slid down her cheek.

**_So there's the first chapter of part 3. Not that much happens, but hopefully you are somewhat caught up with in general what has happened over the last few years with our characters. Remember that I love reviews..._**


	31. Part 3 Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **_**Not mine. **

**Alright, I'm back. Slight wait, yes, but here's a from-scratch chapter for you WITH a requested OC flashback. I'm thinking now that there might be three of these including this one, though I might cut it down to two depending on my inspiration level, your reaction to this one and the length of the story and things like that. You get the picture. So, now for my un-signed in/anonymous reviewer:**

_GoodWitchesOfOz: _First of all, love the name ;)_. _Secondly, thank you so much! That is always wonderful to hear! I'm flattered! I hope this chapter was as good.  
P.S: Did you mean fave character? If so, I'm flattered if not, I'm not sure I know what you mean by 'face character'...Thanks again for reviewing :)

**Please read and review. Let's see if anyone catches the somewhat more specific Wicked (Novel) reference...**

_**Part 3 ch**__**apter 2**_

Liir and Candle were wandering through the rebel complex during her break, each enjoying one of the nutrition shakes that were in common use as rations and even meal replacements on occasion. They were practical, frugal and effective. Alone they tasted revolting but they could be easily flavored with a fraction of the amount of fruit or sweet that would normally be consumed in its place. The pair slurped them through a straw like they might have done with a frozen drink from the theme park at the Emerald City. Their favorite spot for their current surroundings was in a derelict garden in a run-down courtyard. To most it symbolized rot and decay, but Candle, with her ability to read the present, saw so much more to it. This was something that Liir saw too and the best part was, they could usually count on being alone because of its unpopularity with the majority of the populous.

"How is everything going with those meetings?" Candle asked as they sat on the edge of a cracked, run-down fountain.

"Which ones? I'm starting to feel like all I ever do is go to councils and meetings and things. It's so dull. Important, but dull. When I'm not doing that either mother or Raye wants me to study my magic."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea you know." Candle remarked "Perhaps if you did you wouldn't have so many dreams."

"Why do you guys always feel the need to gang up on me?" he asked playfully

"Because this is serious Liir and I'm worried about you. Are you still having that same vision?"

The young man froze when she said that. He had not told her of the dead woman in the wreckage. Candle looked at him expectantly

"That thing with the weird sigil? The screaming man?"

Liir felt relief flood through him. _That _one. It was another recurring vision he often had, but it didn't worry him as much as others did. He always got a vague sense of satisfaction from that one, as though he thought the man in it had it coming. He didn't recognize the runes or what was happening exactly, but he had other far more worrisome dreams on his mind.

"Come on, let's talk about something, anything else. How's Akota doing? I don't get to talk to him that often." He said, desperate to change the subject.

"Swamped." Candle replied, stirring the straw in her nutrition shake and watching the slightly viscous substance sludge around "He is excellent for the job but the job is horrible for him."

"I guess getting those Goblin kids in didn't help, did it?"

"No. He hates war and so do I. We just try and sew people back together, its even worse if they are children. I don't care if they are enemy children or not, they're innocent. If anything, those 'Gobber-mites' as the G.F are calling them have it even worse. None of them have a home. None of the Goblins do. They're displaced people _and_ they've been persecuted just like we have. Its no wonder we have so many defectors."

"I know what you mean, but don't let Kynot hear you talking like that." Liir grumbled. His girlfriend shrugged and slurped her drink.

"Is Raye going to join us today?" she asked.

"I don't know." he shrugged. He and his twin were very open with each other these days but still respected one another's privacy. A large part of that on her part involved politely staying out of his mind when he was with his girlfriend. He and Candle hadn't done anything that would be horrifyingly embarrassing for anyone to see yet or anything, but it was the principal of the thing and Liir was grateful for his sister's discretion. His girlfriend shrugged.

"Oh well. It would be nice to chat, but I don't mind some more time like this." She said with a shy smile.

At the corner to the Courtyard a tall, slender young redhead stopped and leaned against the wall of the corner she would round to enter the courtyard. Rhonaraye craned her neck around to peak at the two and couldn't help but smile when she saw her brother tentatively caress Candle's cheek. He was still so careful with her, it was sweet. She had no wish to intrude on such a moment; Lurline only knew that they had precious few of them with such hectic war-time schedules. That being said, her gaze lingered briefly and for a moment she saw a similar if differently cast scene in her mind. The redhead shook her head then and forced herself to walk away and leave the lovers be.

As she made her way up a set of winding stone steps Raye found her mind drifting in one place in her mind that remained closed to her twin much as the part of his mind that concerned his time with Candle was kept private from her. The mage closed the door at the top of the tower and sat on one of the ledges, enjoying the feel of the cool breeze combing through her hair just like it had so very long ago…

…_Flashback_…

_They were flying. It was one thing they always loved to do together. Fly. Especially since they had forged their very own staffs instead of sharing Rhonaraye's mother's broom. Rhonaraye closed her eyes and felt the wind comb through her long red hair. She and Tristan would often soar high above the cloud-cover and race each other or twirl around one another in the open air. It was peaceful up there and it was in the solitary skies that, for a few moments, no one else existed. This was time that was cherished, time that no one else could ever intrude upon or even truly understand. They would laugh, they would tease one another, they felt like they could go anywhere and do anything and in truth, well they could._

_The golden-eyed, brown haired young man pressed himself against the length of the wood and sped up, moving at an incredible speed. He looked over his shoulder to see a blur of red, beige and brown zip past him. However, as suddenly as Raye had accelerated she pulled up and stopped. Tristan slowed and banked widely to face her again. Her smile spread into a grin and she let out a contented laugh at the confusion apparent on his face before throwing her head back to breathe in the fresh, crisp air, spreading her arms slightly as she continued to chuckle, reveling in the glorious freedom she enjoyed from this vantage point. Suddenly her chuckle turned to a full and uncharacteristically squeally laugh as an arm suddenly seized her waist and propelled both of them backwards a few meters. _

"_Tristan!" She exclaimed as she half-heartedly tried to disentangle them. "Sweet Lurline, you nearly knocked me off! I can't help but wonder if you decided to act traditionally after all and kill off your rival!" Raye teased with a raised eyebrow and a wicked smirk as one hand slid up to grip his shoulder casually instead of trying to push him away. His grin became less broad, but also somehow deeper when she said that. His eyes drank hers in as he shook his head slowly_

"_Never." Tristan said sincerely, lovingly. The redhead smiled in that ecstatically amazed way as the hand gripping his shoulder traveled to the back of his head and pulled his face to hers at the same moment that his fingers formed a light grip in her scarlet curls. The mages' eyes both closed as they captured one another's lips, his free arm moving to encircle her waist and pull her closer as her other hand moved to cup his face. _

_When they pulled away from the kiss they both chuckled and finally did disentangle themselves to sail through the air side by side at a slower pace, only a few feet between them. Tristan watched her with an ever-present small smile as though he would never get enough of her presence, something that was still a pleasant nuance to her even after the months they had spent together already. She couldn't remember being this happy in a long time, if ever. Certainly not since she had been a care-free and sheltered young child with her guardians; before the Rebellion visitors to their cottage had begun to stop seeing a cute baby and started seeing a weapon growing in size, strength and potential. She didn't blame them, she had seen how they lived and how they were treated, but she didn't exactly appreciate how she and her Guardians had been treated either. _

_Up here none of that mattered. Up here there was just her and Tristan. The thought made her grin anew and she stretched out her arms as though basking in the sun, letting the wind billow through the loose-fitting cotton sleeves of the shirt beneath her peasant-like over-dress. _

"_Ohh…I wish I could stay up here forever." She sighed, leaning one hand back on the wood of her staff and looking over at her lover. She couldn't help but notice the effect of the sun's angle on that wavy, light-brown hair of his and how that same lighting seemed to carve out his features._

"_Who's to say we can't?" Tristan asked suggestively. "Come on, it would be so easy! We could just slip away right now! No one would notice right away, it would take them longer to start looking for us and even if they did, who cares? It's not like they could really take __**us**__ on." As he said these words the redhead rolled her eyes indulgently _

"_You __**know**__ we can't. At least __**I**__ can't." she reminded him. "Though…I suppose you are free to leave at any time you wish…"_

"_Not without you I'm not." He interrupted vehemently. Her proposition of the idea had been in jest but his opposition to it was very real. Tristan never ever entertained the idea of leaving her behind __**anywhere**__ even in a joke. It was something she found rather flattering, perhaps romantic, though she had only the most miniscule culmination of knowledge in that particular field. _

"_As I was saying," she continued before shrugging "They're…my family."_

"_They don't treat you that way." The handsome young man grumbled._

"_Dr. Dillamond and Ralimla _raised_ me!" she exclaimed. This was one of the few points of contention between the two. He had not liked the Rebels so far. He had stayed with her when she was formally asked (almost to the point of begging) to rejoin them- by Princess Nastoya no less- and the invitation had been extended to include him. He had stayed, but had not liked a number of the rebels he'd met, in fact he had been outright hostile to a few of them when Kynot and a few others had slid in their subtle but stabbing insults at her. She barely noticed them now, they had been doing this ever since she had been a child, but he had reacted with anger and sharp retorts. Ever since he had been grumbling. _

"_Those two are different, they're okay." Tristan conceded "But they're the exception to the rule they don't appreciate all you do for them or how often you stick your neck out for them!"_

"_Tristan, please. Stop it. They need me. We can't judge them all by, well, Kynot and his buddies. And I don't think even they were always the way they are now." _

"_You're far too generous with them." Tristan muttered "Or maybe you're just too harsh on yourself."_

"_Tristan." She said warningly, her gaze sending the very clear message that this particular conversation was done. Then she softened and brightened "Besides, my friends are there. Jack and Mirisee? I know they think of you as a friend, too."_

"_Alright. Fine. Those two are alright. Yeah, yeah. You're right, okay? They're my friends too now."_

"_And I want to see my godson grow up!" Raye exclaimed, giving him a friendly punch to the shoulder. He feigned indignant injury comically which brought more laughter to the conversation again. _

"_I tell you, I love being a godmother!" The Redhead said gleefully "I get to be the favourite aunt. I get to take him out on little trips and play with him and then when I'm tired I can hand him back to his parents. I can spoil that little Colt rotten if I want to!"_

"_Oh, which you definitely do!" Tristan laughed. She smirked. _

"_I love that kid." She said. _

"_Does he make you think that you might want some of your own one day?"_

"_Lurline, not for a long time!" She cried "I'm not even 17 yet! No way. Oz no, I won't be ready for parenthood for a good decade I don't think! Don't get me wrong, I love that Colt to bits but I don't know if I could last longer than, like, a week of babysitting."_

"_I know what you mean." The other mage said with a nod, his eyes popping slightly at the thought. The pair of them had babysat her godson the weekend before whilst his parents were off. It had been…interesting. If anything though, the pair was certain that they were years away from being anywhere near ready for parenthood. Flirting and romance certainly weren't out of the question though._

"_Come on." She said, "Let's head back."_

…_End of Flashback…_

When Rhonaraye opened her eyes again she pulled herself back to the present. Tristan wasn't there and he wasn't going to be. Now in the place where he had once been there was just…Xorthion. That was what she had told herself over and over, and Xorthion she truly hated. But Tristan…Tristan she would always love.

She thought about that conversation. They had been right. They, or certainly she, had not been ready to be a parent. She had taken care of Zach, she had loved him, but she knew she wasn't entirely competent or talented at it and her youth was very telling in this area. But she was doing her best and was lucky that she had so many willing to help her.

Yet, in spite of all that and of the ongoing, bloody war, Rhonaraye was…content. One might even say 'happy' at times. It was something she felt guilty over with so much bloodshed and senseless loss of life happening around her. Nevertheless, she had her family: Her long-lost twin and mother, her Guardians (one of whom was her father, no less), her friends and her son. Yes, she thought of Zach as her son which, barring the obvious biological factor, he was. She was the only mother he had ever known, poor thing. He didn't have many clear memories of his parents from before their death, something which disturbed his guaridan and something she frequently tried to remedy by constantly telling the Colt of his mother and father.

Yes, she had somehow managed to amass this strange clan of hers.

Now all she had to do was protect it.

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Fiyercrow did not sleep much. He still could on occasion, but he didn't actually need to. However, sometimes it was nice to simply relax and take a nap.

It was, therefore, unusual to find that not only had he dozed off but that Elphaba had already dressed and left. It was reminiscent of their days together before the twins were born, but odd for the present time.

Fiyero was a scarecrow, his body consisting of straw, burlap and something (he presumed magic) that he didn't entirely understand. One of the results of this condition was that he and Elphaba, or more specifically _he_ couldn't exactly do anything that might lead to any siblings for Liir and Rhonaraye but they still shared a room. They simply relished each other's presence and company. For them it had never just been a physical relationship. He would sometimes hold her while she slept and 'dozed off' himself though he never reached a deep sleep obviously and was usually quite easily awoken.

His lover _was _very adept at moving quietly though, so he got up and started to wander. He was in between war assignments at the moment and was enjoying his free time. He didn't get _too _too much of it as he was often called upon as a matter of fact. Not only did he have some measure of military knowledge due to his brief tenure in the Gale Force but he had an incredible stamina considering he didn't need to eat, sleep or drink and felt no pain. In addition, his current form was extraordinarily useful. If he went completely limp and didn't move he was perfect to hide in plain sight in places like markets. To humans, one scarecrow looked like any other and nobody worried about talking around an inanimate object, it was very easy for him to collect the word on the streets from market places.

Fiyercrow was a little perplexed at his lover's sudden course of action. It was as though she was almost avoiding him. He said 'almost' because she clearly wasn't putting her heart into it; avoiding people was a skill that she had been forced to learn out of sheer self-preservation as a child and was one that she had only perfected over the course of her life, particularly during her time as the Emerald Vizier. Consequently she was often successful in her goal if she wasn't shackled to, say, a needy little sister as she had been as a young girl and adolescent. The other thing was that, during her time as the Vizier, she had become exceedingly clever and sneaky in her ways of going about such avoidance by proceeding in a manner that resulted in the undesired party taking a while to figure out that she was even skirting around them. Someone who could contest to that was the Bear, Ralimla, who was completely at a loss as to why her friend might be avoiding her.

The three of them had become very close during Elphaba's pregnancy and Ralimla had only respect and gratitude for the green woman; she had been one of the witch's first rescue missions.

Ralmila had once had a family of her own: a mate and a young cub. They had been captured and brought to a section of the city that was reminiscent of a concentration camp. There they had been imprisoned with Quadlings and a few other Animals and political prisoners. Strangely enough it had been right across from a school in which the children were taught that all of this was to reform the half-witted delinquents at that everything was perfectly reasonable and fine. It helped that any child who dared openly question the harsh methods they sometimes viewed was punished severely to keep them a future of possible 'sedition'.

The prisoners had been starved and had obviously weakened, but at least they had been kept together and the cub had something to half-heartedly play with. However, one day a fight had broken out. The scuffle had not started with the Bears but had ended when Gale Force officers had subdued the parents, surrounded the Cub and bashed its skull in while Ralimla and her mate could only watch. Apparently it had been quite the show for an entire classroom full of children who had had their noses pressed to the windows of the classroom to watch the fight. The Bear had said to Fiyero that she didn't know what their reaction had been, but that she had never before and never again experienced such overwhelming hate directed towards children then at that moment when they had all witnessed her cub's death like it was some kind of sick sideshow. Elphaba had never been able to forgive herself for not rescuing them in time to save the cub, or Ralimla's mate, who had been killed in an attempt to disembowel the one who had killed their son. Ralimla had been beaten too badly to put her own effort in at the time. The Witch had managed to get her out eventually though and helped nurse her back to health in her minimal free time. The two had become friends and the Bear had remained with them to help Elphaba and Fiyero during the Witch's pregnancy.

Hence, she was currently confused about why Elphaba did not want to see her any more. Thanks to their mutually hectic and busy schedules there had not been many opportunities to have much friend-time to begin with, which was why it had taken so long for Ralimla to be absolutely positive that the green woman was truly avoiding her.

Fiyero thought she was overreacting, he knew better than anyone how busy Elphaba was. He had lost count of the times she had stumbled into their room after a long day and literally collapsed into bed, asleep before her head even touched the pillow.

He eventually found the green woman in the back of the large labyrinth-like library in a quiet and private section. The scarecrow couldn't help but smile to see that she was with their daughter. The two were seated a table strewn with books and papers. They could often be found there when they were not busy with something else. Zach was sitting in a corner with his nose in his own story book as the two women discussed complex magic, Elphaba helping Rhonaraye with some of the more intricate and shifting runes from her Grimmerie. The mage was very powerful, intelligent and adept at working magic, but one area in which she sometimes faltered was in translating the ever-shifting runes of the grimmerie. She could do it, obviously, and with some skill, but she did not have the level of innate talent with the text that her mother and brother seemed to possess. Once she had managed to figure out what the words said though, there were few who could match her understanding of the power itself and how one wielded it. In retrospect though, that did have a certain level of necessity to it due to the wild, explosive powder-keg that was her powers; she _needed_ to know how to control them or they might just run the risk of controlling her.

"…I just want to be absolutely certain, you know?" he heard the redhead ask as he got closer and pulled out a chair "I mean…this thing just keeps moving! It's such a _pain_. And we work with magic that's complex enough without knowing that one mispronunciation could completely warp the spell!"

"It's alright, calm down." Elphaba said comfortingly "Look, it's a similar sigil, but it isn't exactly the same. Here," The green woman picked up a quill and started to write on a piece of parchment. The young redhead leaned forward and frowned slightly in concentration. Her mother looked up when she was done to see if the younger woman understood. Raye nodded to indicate that she did. They continued working, only briefly acknowledging Fiyero's presence with a greeting and immersing themselves in their books again. The scarecrow smiled and pulled his chair over to where the little Mule was sitting, noticing the book bag sitting next to him and raising an eyebrow with a little smile.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're supposed to be doing homework?" he asked the child. The Mule looked up and shrugged.

"Are you done? Do you have any left?" Fiyero pressed

"Come on, it's not like they'd notice!" Zach whined. "They've been talking for _ever_! Besides, she barely has time to sign my tests when I give them to her. She wouldn't know if I was failing."

"Come on, you know that's not true." The Scarecrow admonished. Everyone was helping Raye with Zach, something that she continually expressed her gratitude for. She was doing her best, but not only was she on the Rebel Council and a major player in the political dances between countries as well as the magical affairs concerning the war but she was also _very_ young. She had barely been more than a child herself when she had first taken on the massive responsibility of raising her best friend's son in his place following the Donkey's death.

"Okay, maybe it isn't. But she never comes on any of the trips we take." Zach muttered "And two days ago, when we had that class party, she sent me to school with breadsticks and some cheese because that was what we had in the cupboard. I told her about it, like, a _week_ before and she _still_ forgot. Everyone else brought in _real_ treats." He said it very quietly with a glance over towards where his guardian was sitting with her mother, not sure whether he wanted her to hear or not. When she had shown no signs of having heard him he decided that he did, in fact, want her to know that he was still mad at her.

"_And now I'll probably get detention for being late __**again**_!" he called over. The redhead jumped and looked at the clock with wide eyes. She muttered an oath under her breath as she bolted to a standing position and seized the coat that was hanging over the back of her chair, shrugging it on as she strode over to Zach and picked up his book bag for him.

"Sorry, I'll be back." She apologized to Elphaba as she kissed her father on his burlap cheek in greeting before looking down at the somewhat dawdling Mule. "Zach, come _on_!"

The pair rushed out of the room and nearly ran into Glinda as the blonde entered the library, muttering apologies as they hurried away.

"That girl takes on far too much." The Witch of the North stated as she clinked in on her high heels.

"I couldn't agree with you more." Fiyero commented "Liir's not much better these days." This was all too true as well. Over the past few years Liir had become increasingly involved in the War council, military strategy and anything else where his burgeoning oracle powers could be of use. In addition to that he had a great deal to do with the diplomatic element, like his sister. The blonde looked at him briefly before returning her attention to Elphaba.

"Well, I was going to invite you and Raye for a girls' brunch if you could spare the time, but it seems that she is busy. So I suppose Fiyero could come instead."

The relationship between Fiyero and Glinda was pleasant, but just a little strained. While she had long ago forgiven him and (especially) Elphaba, his rejection still stung at some level. She wasn't vindictive about it (anymore), but she was very carefully distanced from the scarecrow in their interactions. It was improving as time went on and of course she was still adamantly Elphie's best friend. The scarecrow nodded and then cleared his throat, deciding that now was as good a time as any to bring it up.

"By the way Elphaba, Ralimla wanted to know if you'd like to join her on Saturday for lunch as well." He remarked. The green woman stiffened. The reaction lasted barely a second before she checked herself and a forced, but convincing easiness appeared in her posture but he knew her well enough by now to recognize her bluffing face when she replied.

"Tell her that I'm very sorry but…I can't. That is, I can't make plans that far ahead. Council meeting might be around then."

"Really?" Fiyero said in surprise. This hadn't been the reaction he'd expected. He had thought she would be eager to spend some time with an old friend.

"Yes." Elphaba replied "Yes, we're keeping an eye on Kumbrica-cursed Munchkinland."

"Oh." Fiyero said. "Okay… why?"

"Because something very strange is going on there magically. Even I can tell when I look into the crystal ball." Glinda said.

"Besides, there will be a gathering of the Alliance for a War Council. Will you come this time?" The Green woman put in

The Scarecrow looked up and shook his head. Either his father or the Steward was always there and he didn't want to see them. He had made his lover promise not to reveal the truth to them; as far as they knew she was merely seen a great deal with an animated Scarecrow rumored to be a former human under a spell. Eccentric perhaps, but when one's skin was green that didn't often make much they did seem anything else, so why not go all out? In their minds their son had been dead for more than 2 decades and, though they were ashamed to admit it, he had certainly had a reputation as a…erm…'ladies man'. Consequently the Vinkus' King and Queen weren't entirely sure just how serious that relationship had been in the first place.

Elphaba honored the promise to her lover but seriously disagreed with his decision, something she frequently made known to him.

"Fiyero, I lived for 15 years believing that I had lost a child. I know what it is to live with that kind of pain." She would say to him "Do your parents really deserve that?" or "Fiyero, my father died before I could make amends with him. That's something I regret to this day. Do you want that to happen to you?" he knew that she spoke of Frex when she said this, and not the Wizard.

He would always argue that his parents would never understand. It was a strong point of contention between the two of them. It didn't help that they kept sending her and Liir invitations to join them at their palace, particularly Liir. Currently, since Fiyero was staying out of the picture (as was his brother) it was their son that was next in line for the throne. There was a pile of them in a drawer. The Scarecrow wished they'd stop, but didn't hold out much hope for that happening.

All they could really do was live one day at a time during times as troubled as these. Right now, they were oddly happy. They had each other, they had their friends, life wasn't perfect but it was their life.

And Lurline only knew how long it would last.

**Review please.**


	32. Part 3 Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**Okay! So, a nice long chapter for you guys! Oh, but be warned, apparently impending adulthood is giving me a disturbingly morbid brain so this is definitely a 'T' chapter for the beginning. That being said, we see some like _Cannon _Cannon characters making an appearance again. That's right, we're goin' to see the girl with the red shoes! No, no not Nessa. The other one. Still Munchkinland though ;).**

**Again, please excuse typos. Another somewhat hurried finish before posting, appologies. **

My answer to the wonderful anonymous reviewer is at the bottom. I PMed all you lovely people who signed in too;)

**Part 3 Chapter 3**

The brief peaceful interlude did not last long, just as they had predicted. However, for once it was not a major skirmish. Instead it was something rather more insular that concerned them. The strange magic coming out of Munchkinland had been increasing in frequency and in the strange familiarity to its "signature". Nothing major seemed to be going on there but it had happened often enough to make the Alliance curious enough to send a team to investigate. This team consisted of the magic experts obviously: a Vinkus Shaman and Tribal Leader who often worked closely with both Nastoya and the royal family named Ottokos; the lady Glinda and her self-appointed, grumbling protector Ijiri and the twins. When they arrived they saw that Morrible had also arrived.

The place was oddly deserted. Everyone seemed to be staying in doors. Not that it really surprised them. Even if a large portion was off fighting the war, Munchkinland had been on a downward spiral economically for years. Unfortunately, since no one had been willing to acknowledge the possibility no one had been prepared for it. Thus, when the former "Breadbasket of Oz" could no longer ignore the state of their economy directly resulting from years of shoddy management, they found themselves in a full-blown depression. In a horribly cruel twist of irony, this horrible war was boosting the economy of the area at the expense of the lives of their able-bodied meaning that as soon as the war was over chances were that without the young and strong to farm, they would be in a bigger pitfall then they were before.

It didn't take the magically inclined investigative crew long once they got there to see just what this magic had been expended on: decoration.

However, whoever had designed this…_landscape_ was neither knowledgeable in working illusions nor any apparent organization. It was chaotic and mismatched. There were several areas that seemed to have been washed out in grays and sepias but the others were the strongest of eye-popping, vulgar colours from hot pink to neon orange and a shade of yellow that seemed particularly offensive to some members of the party. These gray and coloured areas were all mashed together with no apparent order. Yet, while the illusion was striking, it wasn't well done. To the trained eye the reality of degrading paint jobs and poorly maintained buildings were apparent.

No one was particularly happy to see Morrible and the feeling was clearly reciprocated. Glinda gave her a jerky little half-curtsey, Liir nodded once and Rhonaraye merely crossed her arms over her chest and stared her down. The Fish-like woman cut her usual crap and went straight to the point.

"I assume you're here for the same reason I am?" she asked curtly. Before any of them could reply a scraggly looking Lion with limp ringlets in his mane and a seemingly permanent shiver of terror making his frame tremble

"I d-d-don't know what's wr-wrong with her!" he moaned hysterically "Sh-sh-she w-won't listen t-t-to me! She won't br-brush my mane any more and she didn't even like my c-c-colour c-c-c-codes!"

"Brr?" Liir asked hesitantly as he approached the Lion with care to avoid frightening him…if that was possible. He seemed even more shaken than usual. "Brr, what's the matter?"

"I don't _know_!" he wailed as he started to wring his tail in his paws "I-I'm supposedta look after her, aren't I?"

"How have you screwed up this time you useless, stupid Cat?" Morrible spat as she started to charge forward. She didn't get more than a few paces when Rhonaraye swept into her path, blocking it, those unnerving silver eyes glaring down at her. The Press Secretary desisted unhappily as Liir and Glinda tried to comfort the sobbing big Cat. Just at that moment however, the source of Brr's distress emerged from the derelict farmhouse that the town centre had been remodeled to surround, the spot that also held Nessarose Thropp's impromptu and unmarked grave.

"Oh, Sweet Oz…" Glinda said, her hand moving slowly to her mouth in shock. Automatically Ijiri moved to grasp the hilt of his trusty sword.

If Dorothy had looked doll-like before she had now taken it to the extreme. As usual, in spite of the fact that she was well into her 30s, she was wearing garments typical of a little girl: buckled shoes, white socks bunched around the ankle, a checkered dress cut to just past her knees with puffy white sleeves. Her brown ringlets were even strewn with bows and ribbons. The Ruby Slippers still adorned her feet. However, like the town, she seemed to have taken even more extremes with her appearance then was customary. Her cheeks were flushed with perfectly round, red circles and her lips were a rather peculiar shade of glossy red. Her eye lids were bright blue and her lashes particularly long. Her clothes were brightly coloured.

The assembled party just stared at her a minute, it was hard not to after all. However, the twins zoned in on something that she was clutching on an elaborate chain around her neck…some sort of glass vial or container or something. Glinda and Morrible immediately began to move in to try and speak to Munchkinland's governor as Liir sidled over to his sister, both of the latter trying to see with a vague hint of urgency what it was that Dorothy held in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" The woman from 'Can-sas' hissed venomously, making several pairs of eyebrows shoot up. Wow. She _actually_ had an angry tone that wasn't whiny or reminiscent of a baby scowling with its cheeks puffed out like a blowfish.

"Why Dorothy, darling! We wanted to come and see you!" Glinda exclaimed, reaching out to pat her hair. Dorothy recoiled angrily and clutched at the thing she was holding more tightly so that a burst of light suddenly flared around her hand. This action made Glinda and Morrible both freeze, their masks of charm falling from their faces. It had by no means been any powerful burst of magic, but never before had the girl shown any signs of any sort of supernatural power aside from managing to drop her house rather opportunistically.

"Stay away from me!" Dorothy yelled shrilly "You're liars, both of you!"

"Here come the waterworks." Raye muttered behind her hand to Liir. Sure enough, the spout started, however, for once, both of Elphaba's twins were feeling almost…impressed? NO, that was probably going too far. Less disappointed/revolted/incredulously and humouredly disbelieving perhaps was a better description of their thoughts as they witnessed Dorothy's sudden rant.

"You told me all that I had to do to get home was to go down the yellow brick road and find the Wizard! Then he tells me that I have to go and kill the witch only to find that someone else already killed her! And then you said you'd send me home if I was a good girl and stayed in munchkinland but you never did! You never did! You just started to say that Munchkinland was my new home and that everyone loved me! I want to go home! I want to see Aunty Em and uncle Henry again! I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home!" she emphasized each of her repetitive declaration with a childish stomp of her foot. "I want to go home! And if you don't want to send me home then I know someone who will! _He's_ already given me a MUCH better present then you ever did!"

"He?" Liir asked suddenly, catching onto the pronoun usage as Dorothy started to brandish the object in her hand. Raye squinted at it and took a step back, stiffening slightly but otherwise showing no reaction. Liir frowned but then he received her thoughts and her realization. He felt his stomach lurch and turned away a moment, leaning over a nearby barrel as he waited to see if the nausea would make good its promise of depriving his stomach of his lunch.

"Sweet Lurline!" Glinda shrieked after a moment before her wide eyes flicked to Dorothy's slightly crazed ones "Do you know what that _is_?"

Inside the glass vial was an object that was grayish white with three joints and a slightly thinner section that was holding poorly to the three dividends. There were flaky bits still hanging off in sections; skin long dead hanging off bone.

"It's his present to me! I can make everything pretty with it!" Dorothy exclaimed

"Oh, Oz that is _revolting_!" Morrible spat, all pretense of civility gone from her tone.

"Tell me about it." Rhonaraye drawled as she started to pull at the strings of the leather hawking arm-guard that she wore which went all the way up to her knuckles and hid the scar down the side of her hand. She slid it off to reveal this disfigurement and held up her hand for them all to see "That's _my finger_! Ijiri, catch Glinda."

Sure enough, the blonde had gone white as a sheet before her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fainted. Rhonaraye appeared alarmingly, some might even say disturbingly, calm however as she replaced the leather accessory. Only her twin noticed how her maimed hand shook slightly. Dorothy looked to be a little shaken at this revelation and took another look at her "present".

"That's where the magic was coming from." Liir said "Residual power in…" he swallowed and tried again "…left over from the botched binding."

"What's a binding? NO! No I don't want to hear it! You all lie! I want to go back to Kansas! I want to go home! He's going to send me home! The King is going to send me home!" the earth woman shrieked, clutching the glass container and sending out a small spark of lightning shooting towards them. Glinda had regained consciousness and jumped, though to her credit she didn't shriek. However, when Dorothy pulled what was clearly another gift, a pistol, out and started to point they all froze for a moment. Liir and Raye exchanged glances and silent remarks, forming a plan of action before the redhead took a step forward.

"Dorothy," she said gently as she approached the older woman slowly and stretched out her hand. "Dorothy, listen to me."

The Munchkinland governor regarded her with wide, wary eyes, shrinking into herself. Oh yeah. She'd hit complete mental breakdown. Probably long ago. The question was, how long had she _been _past breaking point? The redhead continued to speak in a low, soothing undertone that few would have believed her capable of producing.

"Dorothy, the man who calls himself Xorthion is not your friend. The Goblin King is not your friend. They aren't anyone's friends. I know that people have been lying to you since you got here, right?"

Dorothy nodded.

"I've been lied to before too. I've been betrayed by people I trusted. I know. I know what it's like. It isn't a nice feeling, is it?"

The childishly-dressed woman shook her head slowly, a large pout on her face and her eyes doe-like and teary. Her hand on the weapon shook.

"Right. Now, I won't lie to you and I won't make any promises, okay? I don't know if I can get you back to this 'cans-ass' and I have a lot to work on with the war. But I can try and look into it for you. Is that okay?"

The brunette looked dubious

"Dorothy, do cooperate." Morrible crooned. The Munchkinland governor recoiled and started pointing the gun wildly again.

"Stay out of this, you've done enough." The redhead snapped at the Press Secretary before turning her attention back to Dorothy. It was at this point Liir jumped in.

"Dorothy, the Goblin king will not help you. His present isn't that marvelous, watch. Liir," He said before muttering a short word. It was easy to dispel the illusion just for a moment. The 'Governor' cried out in sulky indignation to see her decorating vanish and then reappear. She finally looked back at the bright silver eyes boring into hers.

"Do you see?" the silky alto voice asked. A nod. The redhead was only a few feet away from her now, one hand outstretched in a non-threatening gesture.

"Could I have my finger back, perhaps?"

Dorothy hesitated only a minute before sliding the chain over her head and practically flinging the vial at the Mage before throwing her self at the young woman. Raye went rigid at the hug. She had never quite been that comfortable with other people but she knew better then to push the other woman away, certainly not before she slid the gun out of her hand awkwardly. She handed them discreetly to Liir as Dorothy whimpered nonsensically. Somewhere amidst her blether a few clear words got through to make the little delegation exchange cold, worried, calculating glances.

"Okay, okay!" Raye said as she tried to slither out from Dorothy's grasp and hold her at arm's length. She cleared her throat and forced the comforting smile back onto her face with effort, though she did feel genuine pity for Dorothy by this point.

"Uhm, Dorothy, okay, um…_slow down_. Now, this is important." She was speaking slowly, as one might speak to a young child and not doing a half bad job at it either. Sometimes—most of the time—they forgot that she had been spending the last half decade or more acting as a surrogate mother and at the moment she was giving them an unintentional yet crystalline reminder of it as she gently used two fingers to tilt Dorothy's chin up and make the other woman look her in the eye.

"What _exactly_ did you tell the Goblins when they came to visit you?"

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What followed was absolute nightmare that was blown way out of proportion in the twins' opinion. It took a while for them to get out of Dorothy exactly what and how much she had revealed to the Goblins. Thankfully, being a figure head, a puppet, she didn't know anything too valuable or dangerous to recount. She had created a bit of a mess though and the council spent the rest of the day in session speaking to other members of the Alliance via enchanted mirror and crystal ball.

They finally determined that even if the leak did turn out to be dangerous, Dorothy was not. With Glinda ardently speaking for her and Candle and Akota willing to find a secure place for her to be cared for, it was decided that she would be left to their care in a psychiatric ward. Both the twins pitied the woman as did their father. Elphaba said nothing throughout the entire proceeding. It was difficult to tell whether or not she still harbored that deep seated hatred for her sister's killer after more than 2 decades.

Nevertheless, time would only tell what the result would be.

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"Alright, what if we tried transfiguration?" Rhonaraye suggested.

A few days later she and Elphaba were sitting in their usual spot at the heart of the library, flipping through various notebooks and their respective Grimmeries. The dog Killyjoy and the Scarecrow Fiyero sat at the other side of their table while a few winged Monkeys perched atop the mammothly tall bookcases.

'No, we can't risk it. We could end up turning him into a blob of goo." The green woman replied wearily, "Remember the last try we made?"

"Thanks for reminding me." The Scarecrow replied with a shudder. A few of the Flying Monkeys roosting atop the enormous bookshelves chuckled a little, though others cringed in disgust at the memory.

"Sorry." The two women replied in unison.

It was their pet project. With the war on they couldn't focus all their efforts on returning Fiyero to human form (which, while desirable, was not something essential or life and death as their other high priority projects were these days) but they usually managed to find the time to work on it. As soon as the conflict with the goblins was over they both planned to put it at the very top of their list. Sometimes Liir pitched in too but over the last three years it had sort of become a mother-daughter thing.

Their previous attempt to at least return some of his organs had gotten a bit messy. Okay, _more_ than a bit messy. Yet, Fiyero liked these sessions. It wasn't as if anything they did could actually _hurt_ him. Physically he hadn't felt pain in more then 20 years. Besides, it gave Elphaba and Rhonaraye the perfect thing to bond over. He and Liir had been doing something similar over the last 3 years, though it was obviously through different methods. Sometimes the young man sat in as well, and other times both men just slipped out and let Elphaba and Rhonaraye look through their spell books together.

"Are you sure that a spell can do it? Not that I mind, Elphie saved my life with this, but is there even _anything _that can reverse a spell? I thought the idea was that they were a permanent thing?" he inquired curiously.

"Well…" Raye began, looking at her mother, "There is this _one_ thing that would do it…"

"It's a myth." Elphaba replied dismissively.

"So are Mages." Raye pointed out.

"What is it?" Fiyero asked, curious

"In leman's terms, the Fountain of Youth." Elphaba informed him, "Legend has it that the first mage, presumably Lurline, created a spring from the water of her home world as the only substance to reverse spells. She then made all spells permanent to try and keep people from using them without thinking."

"Yeah, cause that was effective." The redhead snorted before continuing the explanation "The Fountain also, like the name implies, rejuvenates all who swallow or become immersed in it. Heir go, people sought it out of greed to gain eternal life and youth. They misused it so Lurline hid it before she 'died', leaving behind a mysterious guardian at the entrance. Not even the most detailed of legends describes what this guard is though. If we could find it then it could solve our problem." Raye said

"It's a myth. Even if it was real, no one has ever found the genuine article. Lurline hid it well."

"Just because it hasn't been done before that doesn't mean it's impossible. I mean, just look at our family. The ability to read the grimmerie without any study of the language was unheard of before you and now there are three of us who can do it…with varying degrees of success, granted. And whoever heard of talking scarecrows, green skin, or flying houses? We live in a time of impossibilities.

"Nice speech." Elphaba said with a wry, teasing smile. Her daughter rolled her eyes

"My point is we shouldn't rule it out. We could probably find the fountain with a locater spell if it were precise and strong enough."

"No, we couldn't, there would be protections over it. Besides, the Grimeiero Law states that…" at that point they started arguing different spells and vantage points until Fiyero got lost and stopped trying to keep up.

It was on this scene that Liir walked in, sat down beside his father.

"What are they on about now?" he asked as the two women began an animated discussion

"Who knows." He replied, reaching down to scratch Killyjoy's belly. The dog stretched out and thumped one of his back feet in enjoyment of the action.

"Want to go do something fun?" Liir asked. Fiyero chuckled

"Think we can get away?" he asked his son mischievously. The two of them looked at the girls and then shook their heads as they slipped out. As soon as the door closed the two women grinned at each other and broke down laughing and the dog started barking cheerfully.

"I can't believe how stupid they think we are!" Raye laughed.

"Oh, they aren't patronizing us. They just like their own male bonding time." The green woman said.

"Fair enough. Besides, Liir isn't exactly the bibliophile that we are. It's nice to have someone else who likes books as much as I do. I remember when I was little I used read all these books with Dr. Dillamond with this beautiful illuminated lettering. I used to just love those! Zach likes them too. I only hope I have more time after this is all over…" she trailed off and suddenly seemed to withdraw from the conversation. Elphaba didn't miss how her tone had darkened over the course of the last sentence either.

"What's the matter Rhonaraye?" she asked her. The young redhead paused for a moment as she mulled over her thoughts before finally articulating them.

"_War_ is the matter. I don't know. I'm confused. I should hate it, I do hate it. All this senseless bloodshed, all the lives that are being destroyed, the families torn apart, its awful. Yet…the past three years I've been, well, _happy_. It seems so wrong. Ironic, isn't it? Just as our family manages to scramble into some kind of reunion the rest of the rest of the world falls apart. It's so messed up. I feel…conflicted. In more ways then one."

"I think we all are." Elphaba replied. There was something that her daughter wasn't telling them, she and Fiyero knew it. But they also knew Rhonaraye. She wouldn't tell them if she was pushed.

Suddenly without warning the mage tensed and looked towards the door.

"Something's wrong with Liir." She said. The two of them leapt from their chairs and sprinted out of the room, Killyjoy on their heels. Sure enough, Fiyero was yelling for help at the top of his non-existent lungs from the foot of the stairs. Liir was on the floor, jerking in spasms and writing on the cold stone floor. Candle and Dr. Akota rushed into the hallway a few moments after the two witches.

"Liir!" Candle cried, trying to keep a hold of him as he twisted and writhed, clutching his head in his hands and screaming.

"What's going on?" Elphaba demanded fearfully, practically throwing herself onto her knees next to her son.

"I-I don't know! One minute we were talking about dance steps and high-school, the next he had collapsed!" Fiyercrow exclaimed.

"_Raye?_" Candle half-wailed-half-pleaded in terror as she tried to stop Liir from hurting himself. He had already managed to thwack his head on the stair and cause a thin trail of blood to start to drip from his scalp. Killyjoy was barking his head off, running from one side of Liir to the other, slightly pouncing and nudging him to try and make the human stop whatever it was he was doing that was so unnatural and worrying.

"I…I don't know!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed and at a loss. "Oz he's…he's…" her tone suddenly became indignant as well as worried "_He's blocking me!_"

Suddenly Liir let out a long, drawn out, wordless yell.

"Oz!" he finally managed to growl through gritted teeth, his tightly shut eyes flying open and nearly popping out of his head. Elphaba's hand flew to her mouth and Fiyercrow pulled his hunched over daughter to him to see that the young man's eyes were alight with white flame. A few in the crowd that had gathered screamed as it flared around him though Candle, who stubbornly continued to try and still his dangerous thrashing, could attest to the fact that it didn't burn when it touched her.

"Blood! Oh Oz…pain! The rivers…the waters running red with blood! Fire rolling off the mountain sides!" he grimaced, letting out another yell. Just then a clear, child-like voice echoed through the hall.

"Auntie Raye?" the little Mule suddenly cried. Some of the children from the school had joined the crowd. Raye whipped around to see her godson standing apart from his class, having stepped forward.

"Zach!" she exclaimed. He looked terrified. If only Dosey were at the stronghold! The Wren would have sensed the trouble and redirected him!

"What's wrong with Uncle Liir?"

"Zach, go back to your class!" she ordered, taking a few steps towards him. Killyjoy saw the hand gesture directed at him from his mistress and loped forward. Whining slightly he took the Colt's scarf in his teeth and gently started pulling.

"What's going on?" the Mule demanded, jerking out of the dog's gentle grasp.

"Zach, _now_!" she yelled before another yell from her twin pulled her attention back to the situation at hand, visibly torn between her obligation to her brother and her foster-son.

"GRRAGGHHH! Trees falling from the sky! Death! Screams! They can't get out! Oz THEY CAN'T GET OUT! This is it…this is the beginning…beginning of the end! It's the…" suddenly he stopped and the blaze emitting from his irises seemed to calm and swirl a little before flaring up again. "No…no…" he breathed "Blood! No…no not him! No! No, he's a kid for Lurline's sake…_leave him alone_! He has nothing to do with this! _No_!" Liir screamed as his back bowed and he shut his flaming eyes. Raye froze and felt her blood run cold. She barely heard the rest of her brother's disjointed ramblings. She looked from her brother and the tiny droplet of red forming at the corner of each eye to Zach, not wanting to admit the possibility even to herself.

Finally Liir's violent writhing stilled and he went limp in Candle's arms. The Quadling pulled him close and looked up at her mentor as the Bear checked the young man's vitals. Raye, Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged glances with each other before looking around at the dumb-struck crowd.

There were probably close to a hundred people who had seen, or at least heard, the scene that had gone down. Not one of that number had left the scene since they arrived on it.

But you could have heard a pin drop.

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An hour later the whole clan was in a waiting room. It had been a hectic one. Getting him out of the spot and into a quiet room had been crazy enough. Then after that Rhonaraye had tried to send Zach over to Dr. Dillamond or Ralimla or at least back to class when the Mule didn't want to go. It had ended up in a shouting match in which Raye had tried to order him to go and he had accused her of being an inadequate parent. Those had not exactly been his precise words though. The overall conversation had been rather unpleasant to listen to. It wouldn't have mattered either way though. Dr. Dillamond and Ralimla had showed up anyway of course, as had Princess Nastoya oddly enough.

The moment the Bear walked in Rhonaraye had gone straight to her for a hug, whispering about how glad she was to see her. Unnoticed by everyone except the Bear, Elphaba looked away at this moment and fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.

Glinda had shown up only a few minutes ago demanding information, Ijiri on her heels. She had been stuck dealing with Dorothy and come as soon as she had heard and Ijiri had followed her.

Finally, Candle emerged from Liir's room and said that he was desperate to see them. Nastoya insisted on accompanying them.

Killyjoy was hardly subtle. The massive dog bounded over to the young man and plonked his front paws on the bed and leaned forward to lick the human's face. Liir was sitting in bed, his eyes reddened from the blood that had seeped through them but that too seemed to have stopped quickly and was currently trying to push away the dog with a fond grin. Raye was less affectionate as she charged in.

"What in Kumbrica's _intestines_ was that?" she hissed at him

"Rhona-Raye, he obviously couldn't control that—" Fiyero started

"You shut me out!" she snapped, ignoring her father

"I guess I just picked up a trick or two from you." Liir replied

"I couldn't help you! I didn't know what was going on and you wouldn't let me in!"

"Well now you know how that feels, don't you?"

"We had a _deal_!" The redhead retorted aggressively

"You're telling me that you haven't kept anything from me since we shook on it?"

"**_Enough_**." The low, carrying voice of the massive Elephant commanded. The twins stopped their bickering and looked away from one another, both crossing their arms over their chests childishly. The Princess appeared satisfied with that and continued

"I am an old Creature." She said "We Elephants are known for our longevity and vivid memory. I am one of the few alive who has seen this before. You know now, young boy-calf, that you are an oracle. Am I correct?"

Everyone in the room nodded. Nastoya turned her full attention back to Liir.

"You were foolish to fight it. I do not think it would have been that bad had you not struggled with it so. Now, tell us what it was you saw."

Liir did not want to tell them what he had seen. It had been bad enough himself, and besides, he hadn't just seen it. He'd felt it, heard it, _smelled_ it. But nevertheless, it was important.

"A battle." He said "A surprise attack really, an ambush. It was us being attacked but it wasn't a place that I recognized. There were, um, mountains and caves. And rivers. Three streams merging into one flow of water. Blood was contaminating the water and visibly changing its colour temporarily and the boulders that fell from the mountains were on fire. Then there were the caves…it was like the darkness in the caves was swallowing people up. And the trees…it was like they were disintegrating or something. This is going to be a big battle and its going to happen _soon_. It may have already started. It's…It'll mark the beginning of the end. But I don't know who wins."

"You said something else towards the end." Candle prompted hesitantly, sensing that this was something he would need to talk about in the future.

"It's…further off. I'd rather not talk about that—things in these visions change the further off they are and that one is more down the road. I'm sure of it." He said quietly.

"Very well." The she-Elephant said in her deliberate, rumbling voice "Now we must deduce where this attack will take place."

"Okay," Elphaba said, gathering her thoughts and turning them towards the task at hand now that her son was out of any (immediate) danger. "Three streams converging, mountains, woods and caves, all in one visible area. It doesn't sound like anywhere that we have a base in…I mean, the caves and woods, yes. And there is that one spot with mountains and three streams converging into a river but both—"

"I know where it is." Raye suddenly interrupted. With a snap of her fingers a book appeared in thin air with a puff of smoke and dropped to the floor with a thump, falling open to the page she wanted as she summoned her cloak to her and started to pull it around her shoulders. Zach positioned himself at the door and looked at her accusingly. She stopped her determined walk out the door and looked back down at him.

Fiyero picked up the volume and looked at the map there. Elphaba got up and looked over his shoulder, as did Glinda.

"Of course!" Elphaba breathed.

"The base on top of the portal? The one garrisoned by both the GF and the Animals?" The Scarecrow enquired.

"It's the perfect choice." Liir pointed out. "They can't get agree about anything. It was a pointless experiment to lump them together; I don't care how little space or provisions we had at the time, it was a bad idea!"

"Look this is futile! Yes, it was stupid. But they're in trouble!" Raye interrupted before looking back at Zach who was still glaring at her. "And Dosey is there."

The Mule's eyes widened as he remembered and looked up at his guardian with fear. She bent down and tilted his chin up so that he looked straight her.

"I'm going to go get her."

He nodded and then stood up on his hind legs and threw his fore-hooves around her waist. She returned the hug before fixing her cloak at her throat and summoning her staff.

"Rhonaraye…" Ralimla rumbled deep in her throat "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"You are _not_ going in without backup!"

"There will be entire platoons of our soldiers there! They need someone to operate the portal for them."

"Listen to me young lady—"

"I am not a child anymore Ralimla!" the redhead snapped.

"Raye, please just wait." Elphaba said.

"I'm sorry mother but I can't." Rhonaraye said, her tone far more polite with the green woman then with the Bear. Glinda noticed that this seemed to affect Elphaba ever so slightly, and not in a good way.

With that Rhonaraye swept out of the room and sprinted for the tower, her coat and long red ponytail flaring out behind her around the corner as she rushed off to battle.

**I love getting reviews... ...speaking of which**

**GoodWitchesOfOZ**: Oh yeah, no worries. I respond to all my reviews. I used to leave it at the bottom of every chapter for everyone (as you probably saw) but it just sort of makes sense to reply to the people with accounts right away via the reply button/PMing them and then it saves me time when posting so I reply to my anonymous reviewers (hi there:) ) on each chapter now. And no worries about the iPod, I just love that you're reading and reviewing! Glad to hear it! I have a real problem with OC's, I don't always like reading them but I have some weird addiction to them myself so I'm always worried that I've spent too much time with the ones I make up so its really really awesome to hear that people like my made-up character, thank you!

**Review please toute le mond.**


	33. Part 3 Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I ended up being REALLY busy this week and on top of that I was sick. BUT this may also be the longest chapter I've written so far. I will also take this oppertunity to remind you guys that this fic has been boosted up to a T rating, and I've taken advantage of that to experiment with some darker elements. Also, they are in the middle of a war, which is always violent, dark and messy. **

**Anyways, usual request, read and review please.**

**Part 3 chapter 4**

The wait was not an easy one after the Mage left. Elphaba, as was so often the case, had been unable to accompany her daughter. That would have left their stronghold, which currently housed a number of their leaders, too vulnerable to magical attack. Besides, even if Liir had not been seriously injured, he was still under medical observation since his "attack". None of that stopped the green woman from feeling guilty for not going with her daughter, however, for not being able to protect her…for _never _having been able to protect her. She was well aware that Rhonaraye could more than take care of herself by now but it was the latter half of the statement that always ate away at her mother.

The green woman paced the length of the hallway and glanced through an open door to see that Ralimla was doing the same in her chamber, plodding on all fours anxiously. Elphaba silently moved to look in discreetly from the shadows of the doorway. Every few seconds the Bear would stop and glance over at the window. She had been unable to follow as well, only a few Birds had managed to join the Mage as some form of back-up.

"She probably wouldn't mind some company, you know." A voice said from behind her, making Elphaba jump slightly. It was Fiyercrow.

"Not mine, she wouldn't." The green woman replied quietly, "She'd _think _she'd want mine but she doesn't. I don't want hers."

"Elphaba…" The Scarecrow began, determined to get to the bottom of this as he grabbed her arm. Just then an alarm sounded and people began rushing out of their chambers, therby rescuing Elphaba from any further explanation. Among the crowd was the Cat, Muhlama.

"A portal has just opened down the ridge!" the White Tigress exclaimed, "She has done it!"

They hurried down to find that the Tigress was correct, a portal had been opened and it was mostly their soldiers pouring through, though many were injured and among them were also a few stick-thin, tiny, green soldiers in a far worse condition overall, most of them clearly terrified. Candle and Doctor Akota immediately set to work. Elphaba, Fiyero and the others helped, but also stood guard over the gateway, through which they could see a little of what was going on, but not much. One thing that was relatively clear was that there was an epic match of battle sorcery going on, which left little question as to what the Mage was doing.

After a time there was one figure in particular who attracted attention as a black Eagle hobbled over the threshold. Elphaba had almost forgotten that he was at the stronghold. It was not to enquire about his tactics that she strode over to him though. However, her sharp conversation was halted when she saw what he dragged with his damaged foot and one wing.

"Oh Oz…" She breathed. Fiyero was by her side in an instant. He took one look at the scene and yelled for Candle. The nurse hurried over.

"Oh no." she whispered, kneeling next to the Eagle and his burden. "Dosey!"

The Wren was badly hurt. Her feathers were darkened with blood from a deep wound in her chest and her tail-feathers were smoking. Her breathing was labored and gurgling, the sound of liquid in her lungs, very likely blood, evident.

"Be-begging your pa-pardon…" she rasped faintly, coughing "I-is everyone a-alr-right?"

"Shh, Dosey. Save your strength." Ralimla urged as Candle started yelling for someone to get Dr. Akota as she tried to keep pressure on the Wren's wound.

"Begging…your pardon…don't w-want to be any trouble…"

"Dosey stop it! You're never any trouble!" Kynot insisted. "Hold on."

The Wren coughed again, her eyes losing focus as her head lolled back

"I…I can taste…I taste sweetbreads…" she whispered quizzically "Lurline…I'm not…ready…am I?"

"No! No, Dosey, you're _not_ ready! DOSEY!" Candle shrieked. "Dosey _NO_!"

It was too late. Ready or not, Dosey was gone.

Elphaba stared at the corpse for a moment before surveying the scene around her. She didn't have much time for reflection on the fruitlessness of the whole thing when the Portal started sparking and flickering. The ground trembled, the very air seemed electric, the witch could feel the hum of magic right in her bones. The gate was going to blow!

"_Everyone clear the area!_" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "_NOW_!"

Something about her tone made even the few Goblin Prisoners pay attention. They looked at the strange veil like-image of a very different landscape started to ripple before their eyes in a strange sort of optical illusion of the scene being stretched and warped. The problem was that it was no illusion. The Portal was being warped, torn, ripped apart.

What ensued was sheer chaos as everyone fled, trying to drag the injured along with them as quickly as possible. Candle hurried off to try and help these wounded souls, but others weren't so easy to shake as Elphaba pulled her Grimmerie out of the satchel she always had on her and flung herself down on her knees to flip through the pages frantically.

"Hurry! Get out of here!" The green woman ordered over her shoulder to the Bear, Scarecrow and Eagle.

"I want to know exactly what is happening here!" The Eagle shouted

"Ralimla, get him _out_!" Elphaba yelled. The Bear didn't need telling twice. She and Kynot had never gotten along very well, perhaps for obvious reasons concerning a certain redhead. Thus, it was with a considerable lack of ceremony that she grabbed the Bird with one large paw and loped off. The wind was picking up in response to the Portal's strong magical activity.

"What are you doing?" Fiyero yelled over the sorcery-induced weather phenomena as he knelt next to her, gripping the grass to try an anchor his light-weight straw body.

"I'm trying to find something that will keep it open!" Elphaba told him "Rhonaraye is still on the other side! I have to try and buy her more time!"

"What will happen when it collapses?" The Scarecrow asked

"There'll be a shockwave…or something…I don't know! Gates are ancient magick! They're hard enough to find! That's why we built bases around the network! No one in recorded history has seen one ripped to pieces—Fiyero!"

The winds were abnormally strong and while they weren't strong enough to knock over a human, they were more then enough to toss around a man weighed down by nothing but rags and straw. Elphaba lunged forward and grabbed her lover's sleeve and pulled him down. The gate was about to blow. There was no time for any further reflection and Elphaba threw up a magical shield over the pair of them.

When the couple looked up there was little left of the grove. The Gate was gone.

Their daughter was nowhere to be found.

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"_What happened Kynot?"_ Ralimla thundered as she and Elphaba stormed into the crowded recovery room. The Bear and Witch both looked murderous.

"We were ambushed." He replied.

"We kind of got that." Elphaba growled, her green fingers digging into wood of her broom.

"It was a disaster. They somehow managed to ignite boulders and send them down the mountain side from a peak higher than we had built around. It demolished the walls and wreaked havoc. Then the waves of soldiers came. They blocked up the exits with more of their flaming boulders and drones. We were losing. I hate to admit it but I can recognize defeat when it comes. Then your bra—the Lady Mage arrived. She opened a gate and we retreated. Not that it was all that great a help, the Goblins could follow right after."

Kynot paused here as the memory of being backed into a corner with a shield in front of him and a sword in his good foot, slashing little green soldiers down one by one as they approached him. He had seen the redhead arrive but paid little attention to it. A blast had cut through the line of attackers trying to gain the honor of killing an enemy General. He had stood, awkwardly to see that a blast of power had scattered them, and that Rhonaraye's gauntleted hand was still glowing faintly. Suddenly the redhead had tensed and hurled a lightning bolt at a point above his head. There had been a scream and then a shower of dust and a clatter of metal as a dagger fell to the ground beside him harmlessly.

He didn't share any of this with them though.

"We made it through to the next location, they followed. The battle continued. So much blood was spilled into the river it actually changed colour. The lady Mage came through and opened the next one, but this time a few of ours stopped too many of them from following us.

"It wasn't my fault! They had that mage with them and we were overrun. Their troops are not as well trained or well fed as ours but their sheer numbers work to their advantage, and the troops we had manning that base were as I suspected when I went to conduct that audit: ill-disciplined, argumentative, at each other's throats…none of them stood a chance. Gale Force wouldn't take orders from me." He told them instead.

"And none of those Animals ever take orders from me!" The Gale Force Officer who had been the ranking officer at the Base snapped. He was having his arm bandaged and put into a sling. He already had a white cloth helmet of bandages on and a swollen, blackened eye.

"Why should we take orders from a slave driver who worked to exterminate and enslave our people?" A Grite exclaimed. An argument that bordered on rioting erupted between the high-ranking ego-tripping officers that the Doctors and Nurses were hard put to quiet.

"Will all of you shut up already?" A young Gale Force soldier demanded from his hospital bed. His leg had been badly broken and mangled in a scouting mission through the woods. The truly ironic thing was that it had been an old Bear Trap from the days of the Bans and Hunts.

"Animals, Gale Force, who cares? Those of us poor suckers down here don't any more. We'd be dead if we did. Maybe you guys need to bury the hatchet a little deeper for a while."

"Jemmesy is right." A familiar purring voice said as Muhlama stood. When she had entered, no one was certain.

"We have been fighting this war for three years. Those of us actually fighting, while we may not like each other all the time, have at least learned how to survive in an extreme situation together. Some of us are even…perhaps…friends. You all know how ardently I fought the humans, and I now even I vouch for them. The petulant, disobedient Princess can do it. You have little excuse. This disaster falls on all our heads. Not just human or G.F."

"I don't care whose fault it is!" Ralimla cut in "I want to know where my Cub is!"

Elphaba stiffened slightly and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Kynot.

"_He_ showed up, didn't he?" Liir said from the Nurse's station where he had come to find Candle. His tone left little interpretation to who 'he' referred to. The Eagle looked at him long and hard for a moment before nodding.

"The Mage Xorthion and even that fat lump Chuffery showed up too, yes. The…mages started fighting. As usual it got no where and did nothing but wreak havoc and destruction. The gate was closing, I had to leave."

"You _left_ her there?" Fiyero demanded angrily

"That daughter of yours can more than take care of herself, _Your highness_." The Eagle snapped, emphasizing his former title "I had no choice. Dosey…" he trailed off unexpectedly and looked away before a steely mask returned to his battle-scarred face "There happened to be other things to deal with. The world doesn't revolve around one redheaded human. Even she seems to know that even if your brainless mind never did. Sometimes sacrifices are made."

"Fiyero," Elphaba beckoned quietly, a green hand moving to his arm to restrain him "I don't think he had a choice. Think logically, could you stop her? Could you physically _force_ her to leave the fight? I know I couldn't. Kynot's right. She _can_ and frequently _does_ take care of herself." Her tone was somewhat resigned, but her words were true and they all knew it.

There was a tense silence among that group, but around them others had not ceased in their own conversations. The hospital section did not have enough beds and was sending those with lesser wounds back to their own rooms or to the barracks to rest and recuperate. Therefore an hour later the tense argument had moved to the large entrance with a large and elaborate staircase leading up to the next level. Glinda met them there with Ijiri.

"Oh my goodness! Elphie! Liir! What happened? I heard there were people killed! Where's—where's Rhonaraye?"

"She didn't come back." Fiyero said. Ijiri shrugged. Nonplussed. It didn't surprise him. Unlike the other members of his family, he wasn't all that over-protective of his niece and nephew. He knew their uses and abilities and they were both numerous and powerful. Neither of them needed coddling.

The story was repeated again. Glinda flew into a rage at the apparent mismanagement, however, Ijiri and Elphaba both knew that it was mention of her Ex.'s presence at the raid that really frightened her and by extension set her off. Kynot did not appreciate being told what to do by someone who had, up until a few years ago, striven to present herself as a walking doll and started shouting back. Before long a crowd had gathered. It was kind of embarrassing actually. They got so caught up in their argument that they managed to miss the massive litter appearing at the top of the stairs.

"_Silence_." A deep-throated, old voice thundered. Everyone stopped at the sound and turned to see Princess Nastoya's litter at the top of the stairs. The she-Elephant nodded in satisfaction and then glanced over her shoulder. A dirty, haggard, slightly battered looking Rhonaraye stepped forward. Nearly identical looks of relief passed over her family's faces to see her and her dog, but the smiles quickly halted when they saw the expression on her face. Only then did they look where everyone else was staring: the large mass she was dragging on the floor next to her by the material clutched in her fist.

"Lady Mage Rhonaraye has returned." Nastoya announced.

"And I brought a _present_!" The redhead snarled aggressively. With a grunt of exertion— her muscles visibly bunching with the effort— she half-threw-half-kicked her 'gift' away from her. He flew through the air and skipped the stairs, landing with a grunt on the floor in the centre of the semi-circle that formed around him. Glinda's gasped and recoiled into Ijiri's arms. The Vinkus Prince, in turn, unsheathed his sword and moved to stand between Glinda and the man on the floor.

"I believe you're all familiar with _Sir_ Chuffery?" the Mage said with that strangely cold fury that she was known sometimes for as she descended the carpeted steps. It had been a long time since she had been this enraged, Liir mused to himself as he glanced around. Frost was creeping along the windows even though for once it was not snowing outside.

Chuffery stirred on the floor.

"You little witch!" He spat, though whether he was speaking to Elphaba, Glinda or Rhonaraye was unclear.

"Correct, what tipped you off?" Raye quipped sardonically as she stalked right past and over him without a second glance, as though he were nothing but the dirt beneath her boot. She made a bee-line for the Eagle as others swarmed in to tie Chuffery's hands behind his back and gag him, perhaps enjoying the sight of the notoriously anti-Animal nobleman at their feet just a little too much. Just a little though.

"Dosey?" she asked apprehensively. The Mage had only seen the Wren shot, not the aftermath. Kynot looked her in the eye and shook his head. Liir felt the impact it had on her through their connection but also registered how she masked it from everyone else relatively well.

"I see." She said tightly. "If you'll excuse me." With that she left, heading in the direction of her quarters.

Ralimla made as though to follow her when Liir stopped her.

"Let her go. She needs to see Zach." He said. The Bear nodded and desisted. Instead they all turned their attention to their new prisoner. Who was already squirming against his bonds.

"So." Ijiri said, looking down at Chuffery contemptuously "What do we do with him?"

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A little later that evening, Fiyero made his way to his daughter's rooms to check on her. He knocked softly as he opened the door and found her curled up on the couch with the Mule's head in her lap, stroking his mane gently and murmuring sad, comforting things to him. He looked like he had been crying. The redhead did too. Zach snuggled closer to her and in response she held him a little tighter. Ralimla then came into view as she ambled over and put a blanket around them both before leaning over to nuzzle the mage and run a brush through the rats nest that her gorgeous red hair had become over the course of the day. She hadn't done that since Raye had been a child, but was surprisingly good at handling the small brush in her large paw.

The scarecrow dropped in very briefly and then both he and Ralimla left the girl they had raised alone with her charge.

The Scarecrow made his way instead to the Library, somewhere nice and quiet. It was there that he ran into a somewhat unexpected member of his family when he saw his son stride into the room angrily, take out his large magic book and slam it onto the table with aloud thud.

"What's the matter?" the scarecrow asked his son.

"Nothing." The younger man snapped sullenly

"Maybe I can help."

"I doubt it."

"Try me." Fiyero replied good-naturedly. Liir scowled at him.

"Have you ever known _something_ was going to happen, but not known what?" he demanded, "Or been told that some of things you know but don't know will happen can be stopped, but not which? And that one of the people you love the most might— and probably will— die?" There was silence for several moments

"Sorry, you lost me somewhere."

"It's an Oracle thing…"

"I am getting so sick of phrases like that. Do you know how much you sound like Elphaba and Raye?" Fiyero groaned

"Trust me; I'm all too aware of it." Liir sighed.

"Care to be unlike them and talk about it?"

"Maybe, but not right now." He said a little awkwardly. Even though he and Fiyero had been spending a great deal of quality time together in the last few years, he was still more comfortable talking to his mother about things like this. He changed the subject "You wanna come to that 'secret meeting' with the allies?" he asked as an afterthought

Fiyero had not attended any of these, despite the fact that one of his parents was often present. Elphaba had wanted to tell the Vinkus Monarchs that their son was alive, but Fiyero had stopped her. Knowing what his mother was like, he must have explained it to her, even if he had not to Raye or himself. The scarecrow shook his head in response to the question.

"No, I'm not a warrior. A tracker, maybe, but not really a soldier."

"You spent time in the Gale Force." Again Fiyero shook his head

"I was in the Gale Force to look for your mother and _only_ to look for your mother." His father told him.

"Hm. I guess. Any idea what they're going to do with Chuffery?" Liir asked, changing the subject. Fiyero's expression darkened

"No." he replied "But then again, I'm not entirely sure that I want to."

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"_Rhonaraye…" Xorthion said as he counter-attacked_

"_I don't know why we're still talking. It's been over for years."_

"_I can't live without you, please. Listen to me! For once! You never let me explain!" He begged. Interesting, he hadn't gone on this tangent for a while now. _

"_Explain what, exactly?" she demanded as she made the earth beneath them tremble "Explain how you lied to me? Betrayed us? Explain how you tortured my brother, organised attack after attack against us—"_

"_I didn't know he was your brother and we don't have to be on other sides of the war!"_

"_Or how you killed my best friend? Tried to kill me?"_

"_I never tried to kill you!_

"_What about Mirisee? Huh? You killed her in cold blood."_

"_I had no choice!" Xorthion yelled_

"_There's ALWAYS A CHOICE!" _

"_Rhonaraye…"_

"…Rhonaraye. Lady Rhonaraye!"

The Eagle's sharp tone brought the redheaded mage out of her reverie.

"Sorry, what?" she said, shaking her head a little. She was dying for a shower. She hadn't even been to sleep since returning from the battle. She envied Zach at the moment for his nice warm bed, even if the poor Colt had cried himself to sleep. She had held him while he did so. After she had put him to bed and watched over him for a couple of hours she had been called over by the Council to hear the interrogation of Sir Chuffery. It was difficult to actually listen to the long string of unending insults and racist, specist, sexist remarks. They had managed to get some information out of him though. It was hard to out-Fox someone who had been in this game as long as general Kynot and even harder to out-Fox a Fox. Consequently Raye had found her mind wandering back to her conversation with Xorthion on the battlefield. So he was back to the 'explanation' rant again, was he? He hadn't tried that one in a while. Years, as a matter of fact. Why start that one up again now? But no, now she had to concentrate.

"I asked whether or not you thought it would be appropriate to end this interview."

"You're actually asking my opinion?" She inquired dryly.

"He's an Animal. Of course he's an uncivilized idiot to listen to a woman!" Chuffery jibed. Rhonaraye rolled her eyes. She wasn't even going to dignify _that_ with a response. Instead she turned to Kynot.

"We haven't gotten much out of him." She said "We can rotate around, tire him out and give ourselves a break from that trash he spews out of his mouth."

The Eagle nodded.

"Valid idea. You look like hell, Throular. You should go get some rest." He said. It actually was not _quite_ an order and it was nearly...civil. She nodded to him as a show of courtesy.

"Go on, run. Scream and cry like that stupid little Bird of yours did when I shot her!" Sir Chuffery jeered as they started to head for the door. Kynot froze, rigid with rage. He had had a special relationship with the Wren, the two of them had been through a lot together. He had thought of her as a daughter, almost. A cool hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"He's trying to push your buttons." Raye murmured "Like he's been doing all evening."

"Then again, my wife always did squeal too."

Kynot felt the hand on his shoulder tense.

"He's pushing mine too."

"Just you wait, all of you! As soon as his Majesty wins I will make that green freak scream! Here that, Demonspawn? I'm going to watch as your mother writhes, and I will _enjoy it_. And that ridiculous Animal, that _Mule_. I'll make him work like he should have been working all along in the mines and I'll—" suddenly his spout was silenced as a strap of leather on the back of the chair leapt into life and slapped itself over his mouth, prompting infuriated, muffled sounds from his mouth.

The Eagle looked up at the Mage as she slowly turned.

"You know what? I think I'm going to _let_ him push my buttons this time." She said in a low, dangerous tone. "Leave us alone for a few minutes, I'll have the information that you're looking for."

"Throular, you're not thinking of—"

"You don't want to know what I'm thinking, General Kynot. Plausible deniability and all that. Now leave. He'll still be here when you get back." She said darkly. The General had misgivings, but nevertheless wanted tactical information more, so he did just that, leave.

The door closed behind him with an audible, echoing boom. Chuffery's ees narrowed and he began to sweat.

"Tell me, Chuffery, do you know what a mage is? What a mage can do?" Rhonaraye inquired as she sauntered around him with a slow, deliberate menace. If he had any sense he would be scared. Well, he certainly would be soon. She snapped her fingers and the leather strap across his mouth crumbled to pieces.

"Well? I'm waiting for an answer."

"A sorcerer. You work with your magic tricks." The prisoner spat arrogantly. Rhonaraye chuckled darkly.

"Oh, you _are _ignorant. Mages can do so much more than that." She walked with one hand behind her back and one in front of her, palm up. A fireball swirled an inch above her skin, igniting out of thin air before morphing into a sphere of air and then water and then finally pure lightning.

"I can cast spells, yes. Powerful ones too. I can read the grimmerie with minimal study. I can also," with a wave of her hand she whirled his chair around pulled it toward her, tipping it forward. She stopped him from falling on his face with one hand on the wood next to his head, her face inches from his. "I can also manipulate elements. The natural world. I can create them, I can manipulate them. Water, fire, rock and soil, plants, electricity, air. It's a lot of power. You have to be careful not to let it go to your head."

Chuffery clearly had realized that he might actually be in trouble, but wasn't about to let her know it. He spat at her, like he had the Eagle, but apparently she was ready for it and dodged him. This earned him another skid across the length of the room and he slammed into the wall again. The force of it caused his chair to topple onto its side. The jarring impact winded him and he was afforded a rather close up view of the mage's boots.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Rhonaraye remarked dangerously as she glared down at him. The temperature around them dropped noticeably. With a dark glint of rage in those cold, silver eyes she made a sweeping motion with her hand and Chuffery felt some strange invisible force pull him upright. It was a strange and decidedly uncomfortable sensation- almost as though something inside him were the driving force of the motion. Now he was starting to get scared.

"You see, unlike you, I actually studied in school. For example, do you know how much of your body is made of _water_? What do you think would happen if that water inside you, if your blood itself froze into solid ice?" she hissed in his ear "Or, I could the other way. You think your blood boiled when your wife decided she was tired of being your punching bag? Well I can really make it boil. _Literally_. Don't believe me? You know I've never actually tried anything like it on purpose before. One time I did it out of self-defence, I think. You want to know what happened to him?"

Chuffery didn't answer her.

"He blew up. From the inside out." Rhonaraye whispered in a voice that sent chills down her prisoner's spine.

"You know what else courses through your body every second?" she enquired.

"Wh-what?" He asked, struggling to keep his voice even and failing. Rhonaraye straightened and turned to face him, a small humorless smirk on her face. She held her palm out and small sphere of electricity formed in it.

"Electricity. Now, what do you think would happen to your brain if I tried messing around with those electrical impulses? I also don't think you'd like it much if every tree in every forest decided that your overly large carcass would make for wonderful fertilizer and I think what I could do with fire is probably pretty self-explanatory even to you. And that is just using the magic found in everyday nature. Look, I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm sore and I've just lost yet another dear friend to this war. My temper is not at its best right now. And on top of that, you just threatened my ward. You're going to push my buttons? Be ready for the consequences. Where would you like to start?" she asked coldly, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrows challengingly. She watched him pitilessly as he started to quake with fear.

"Please…" he croaked

"What?" she demanded, her tone hard and unyielding.

"Don't kill me…"

"Why shouldn't I? But, no. I'm not going to. Not yet. For one thing, there are others who want to talk to you. Someone will be coming by in a couple of hours at the latest. No, a better question then whether or not I'm not I'm going to kill you," she remarked as she strolled over and ran a single fingertip along his collarbone. He cried out the burning appendage touched him, leaving a raised blister where she touched. Suddenly the redhead was standing over him with one hand on either arm of his chair.

"Is how we're going to pass the time before they get here." She seized the collar of his shirt, pulling it up so that their faces were inches apart. It was strange. Her long red hair was dishevelled and strands of it fell over her grimy face and dark circles seemed carved beneath those silver eyes, yet Chuffery had never seen anything so frightening.

"Let's get one thing straight here, _Chuckles_." She growled "The Mule Colt is under _my _protection. You go anywhere near him or any of my family and I _will_ kill you and I guarantee it will hurt like nothing you have ever experienced before nor ever will again. Do I make myself entirely clear? _Well_?"

Chuffery nodded, his eyes popping out of his head. It smelled as though he had urinated out of terror.

"Good." She said through clenched teeth. "Now, _where were we_?"

"Wh-what do you want?" he asked after a period of silence. She smirked slightly with humourless satisfaction.

"Answer Kynot's questions and I won't get creative with magic and anatomy. Give Kynot any trouble, I tap in to my inner artiste. You come near me or mine and the same thing happens. And I give you my personal guarantee that in such an event you will live just long enough to know _exactly_ what hit you. Are we quite clear, _Sir Chuffery_?"

He nodded. Her eyes narrowed in satisfaction

"You think I'm bluffing?" Raye inquired.

He shook his head. Good. Because she wasn't and both of them knew it.

"You scared of me?" she asked. She didn't care if it was petty. She really didn't like the man on principle and loathed him even more upon introduction. The chubby old man nodded.

"Good." The mage said menacingly before releasing him and walking toward the door. Chuffery felt humiliated fury bubble up inside him at the fact that he was indeed frightened of a "mere" woman.

"Just you wait until his majesty has quashed you!" He yelled after her. The mage stopped and rolled her eyes before turning back around "Just you wait! I'll repay you for this! He'll leash you to him with that voodoo and then you'll be at _my_ mercy!" He snarled. If the intent was to intimidate, it failed miserably. Rhonaraye rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust.

"I'm sorry, is that supposed to scare me or are you really that desperate to see what I can come up with on the spot?"

"Just that…when he lashes- binds- whatever he does, when he puts you under his _power _I'll enjoy watching. He may even give you to me as a reward. He already has his own personal mage to draw from, afterall."

"Better than you have tried to—personal mage? It's impossible to bind a Mage! What are you on about?" Rhonaraye demanded, advancing on him. When he didn't immediately reply she lost patience and flicked a small tongue of fire to slap his shoulder painfully. "Talk!"

"The Mage is bound to his Majesty like that brilliant man back in the Emerald City before the green freakshow shut him down."

"That's impossible." Raye said, her features suddenly contorting in rage "_Don't_ lie to me." The temperature around his chair dropped well below freezing and a twister formed around the former noble.

"I'm not…" Chuffery choked, terrified of her again, particularly when the lightning started to crackle around him "It's what the King said—he said that he was bound to him! That Xorthion _couldn't _disobey him! That's what he said, I swear! I SWEAR!"

The Redhead stumbled backwards a step. At that moment there was nothing she wanted to do more than make Chuffery write in agony but he actually looked like he was telling… the truth? She said nothing for a long time and then looked her prisoner directly in the eye

"Remember what I said. A _toe_ across the line. A _hair_ on the Mule Colt's head and you die. Painfully!" With that, and a parting shock of lightning, she strode out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Once Rhonaraye was back in her room she closed her door and slid to the ground slowly as the impact of that conversation hit home. She was shaking. What had she just done? The image of the blister raising on Chuffery's skin flashed across her vision, his yelp as small crackles of lightning struck him. Lurline...She'd just tortured someone! Not extensively, not severely, but the intent had been there. She'd crossed a line and she knew it. But at the same time, she didn't care all that much. That last part scared her the most. What was she turning into if she didn't care that she had just done that to another living creature? She'd killed several times on the battlefield, but she always felt horrible and still remembered every face that she had seen die, including that of the poor soul who had been about to kill Kynot elarier that morning.

Raye also remembered all too vividly her own experience with such 'interrogation' methods and still had the scars to prove it. SHe had sworn never to let another creature suffer that, yet there she had been in that room. She had meant ever one of those threats and had given Chuffery reminders of their conversation. She wanted to tell herself that she'd never do it again, would never allow grief and rage to push her to that extreme again but the truth was, she knew she would. If Zach were endangered she would go to any length to protect him even if it meant compromising her own integrity.

She also shook with fury too, though. How dare that monster threaten her family? How DARE he? And all those insults, what had he _expected_ to happen? He had played with fire and gotten burned. And she would do it again and more if he ever went near Zach. And then what he'd said about… …No. She wouldn't think about that.

She closed her eyes as one filthy hand went to her face. She was exhausted. She was sore. She was filthy…Dosey…Dosey was gone. A single tear slid down her grimy cheek as she thought about the friend none of them would ever see again. They'd never hear that 'Begging your pardon' ever again. Never see that flustered little Wren's feather's flying as she darted this way and that… The redhead sighed and pulled her legs up to her chest, leaning her forehead on her knees. They had lost many friends over the course of this War. If only she could just _rest_.

She nearly fell asleep there, leaning against the door but her thoughts continued to wander to her lost friend and to what Chuffery had said about Xorthion. About…

Tristan.

That decided her and she closed her eyes, not to sleep as she so desperately wanted, but to center herself. It wasn't difficult to find that particular passage in her mind. She didn't stay long, just long enough to leave a message that the other mage would be sure to find through their old link.

Sure enough, Xorthion, once known as Tristan, heard it in his chambers within the Goblin Stronghold. It rang through his mind as clearly as a bell in her unmistakable alto voice before she removed her presence and sealed the connection shut once again.

**_We need to talk._**

**_

* * *

_**

Okay, another darkish chapter, but not _too _too bad I hope. As usual, please leave me a review!

Now for my 'anonymous' reviewer:

**GoodWitchesOfOz: **thank you! I'm glad you liked the whole Dorothy thing. She's going to come up again. I also haven't forgotten about the whole Elphaba-Ralimla thing. Most likely it will come up again next chapter. Thanks for dropping me a line :)


	34. Part 3 Chapter 5

**Part 3 chapter 5**

_**I feel really bad; Such a long wait followed up by a pretty quickly (therefore likely poorly) edited chapter. Sorry about that but I didn't want the wait to be even longer and I've been insanely busy and still am insanely busy. But, now we get some answers to a couple of questions brought up earlier though and have some (hopefully) good dramatic moments.**_

Liir was the one to find his sister the next afternoon. She'd told him what she had done to Glinda's ex through their connection an hour or two previously. Zach was with Dr. Dillamond and Ralimla when he found her huddled in a corner of her workroom. She'd showered recently; her red hair was still wet.

"You okay?" he asked as he sat down next to his twin.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly, her voice hoarse as she looked at him. "Liir, what's happening to me? A year ago…Lurline a week ago I would have even dreamt of doing something like that..."

"I don't know how different I would have been in your position." Liir offered, though both of them knew it was a somewhat half-hearted attempt at consolation. He was more than a little unsettled by what she'd told him. As usual, she knew his feelings.

"Yeah you do. You would have done it very differently."

"I don't have the power at my disposal that you do." Her brother pointed out.

"Exactly." She replied "I _do_ have power, automatically. I'm not being arrogant when I say that you can count on one hand the number of people who can match me in a showdown of magic. I can't just throw that around like its nothing! And up until last night, I don't think I'd ever intentionally shirked that responsibility. But now…"

"Look, I'm not going to condone what you did and that's not what you're looking for me to do anyway." Liir said as he put a hand on his twin's knee comfortingly "But I will say that pretty much anyone who has ever met Glinda would _love_ to have seen that, including me. If anyone's earned a good licking, it's Chuffery. And he pushed you. That doesn't make it right, per se, but it makes it…understandable. And the fact that you feel bad—"

"That's the problem." Raye cut him off, "I don't. _That's_ what scares me. _That's_ what I feel bad about. Not that I did it, but that I don't feel any remorse and I know that I _should_. I meant every one of those threats, Liir. And if Sir Chuffery ever goes anywhere near Zach he will live just long enough to regret it. I know that attacking a prisoner is wrong but I can't make myself feel sorry about it and _that's_ what I feel bad about!"

For a long time neither of them said anything. Rhonaraye looked at him with eyes that were slightly wide, but not popping out of her head. She was scared, but far angrier than anything else. Angry and eternally weary. After a few minutes, Liir decided what he was supposed to do. With a sigh he took her hand in his own and held their laced fingers between them, a silent reminder of the pact they made years ago. He would never turn his back on her, nor she on him. Whatever happened, they were in this together and that always seemed to make things a little easier.

"Thanks, brother." She whispered. Liir nodded and smiled.

"Look on the brighter side, we have a few days off before dragging our butts over to that stupid meeting." He said in a half-hearted attempt to cheer her up before rolling his eyes "Uggh. Both grandfathers in one room. Why is it that we have so many people in our family on this council? It's like some kind of messed-up Kumbrica-cursed reunion or something."

Raye shrugged.

"I don't know. But you can see why people are a little wary of us. We're considerable political players for, what? Half of Oz? Two thirds? We _do_ look like would-be Emperors to some."

"I know what you mean. But still, I mean, do _you_ want to be a queen?" Liir asked. The redhead snorted

"Lurline, no!" she scoffed "I just…I just want to be left alone most of the time. I'm so _tired_. _All the time_. I just want to disappear. Start again and live my _own_ life."

"You know what? I don't think I want the royal life either, not anymore." Her brother agreed after a pause. He had done the prince act in theEmeraldCityand had enjoyed it back then. But that was a long time ago and he hadn't gotten that since he joined the rebellion; no one did except for princess Nastoya who could legitimately claim much of it for health-related reasons. If you lived at the base you got a set of quarters which varied in size according to the number of occupants. If you were temporary, you slept in the barracks. And Liir actually kind of liked that. Quite simply put, he wasn't the same person he had been all those years ago in the Emerald city.

And quite frankly, he wouldn't have it any other way.

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They jinxed it with the thought of time off.

The next day they got the news; the Emerald City had fallen.

Some of the Monkeys had told them; they'd seen the people fleeing and the houses go up in flames. There were very few who had successfully managed to escape so far, but it was very early days yet. They weren't quite sure how it had happened either but it was a serious blow to have been dealt, especially so soon after the Gate had been destroyed and they had lost one of their mountain strongholds. TheEmeraldCity's rather spectacular defeat could just turn the tide of the war away from the allies.

So now the Goblin King had his foothold and an entire city to occupy. Oh joy.

Glinda was aghast; she had lived there for decades and bonded with those people even if they did have certain sheep-like tendencies. Liir was disturbed; he'd grown up walking those streets and knew people there! Besides, even if he had very little contact with the Wizard these days, the man was still his grandfather and there was no news of him! Rhonaraye did her best to comfort her brother and felt the fear for the old man vicariously even if she had a hard time synthesizing it individually. Elphaba was difficult to read. She seemed concerned but kept her emotions to herself.

It quickly became apparent that Morrible had made a break for it, but there was no word on the Wizard for several days. Then, out of the blue, he turned up: practically on their doorstep.

Elphaba, Rhonaraye and Liir had been summoned to the council in the middle of the night (technically the wee hours of the morning) with no time to get dressed. They had all rushed to the chamber in their nightclothes and dressing gowns and weren't the only ones who had clearly come directly from their beds to the council chamber. Said chamber consisted of a a semi-circular ground level with continually raised seats surrounding it, like some kind of theater almost with a large booth-like spot in the middle of the raised levels fashioned for the Council members. Rhonaraye had never liked this set up, with them looking down on whoever it was, for she remembered all too well what it was like to be on trial and forced to look up at her accusers. She felt it was a petty intimidation tactic.

In the center of the ground level was an old shell of a man. He sat hunched over in the chair with his elbows resting against his knees and his fingers reaching limply to the floor. He had lost considerable weight over the course of the war, his clothing hanging off him loosely. He wasn't quite bald- he might look better if he was; instead there were only a few limp strands of white hair across his head. The old man's face was scratched and his trouser knees were stained. He looked up when Elphaba and her twins walked in and they could see that his eyes were sunken and shadowed by dark circles. His face was full of misery.

"I found him hiding in the woods an hour ago. He hasn't said anything." Ijiri stated for everyone to hear, for there _was_ a small audience. Raye nodded in acknowledgement to him. She knew that Liir would be grateful that it was his uncle who held no personal grudge against the old man and therefore would not have hurt him. The green woman looked down at the old man and then away again, walking to her seat as though she couldn't see him. He wilted at this clear rebuke when she took her seat and regarded him as though she didn't know him and he were just another case.

"So. The Wizard managed to survive his city being overrun." Kynot said, enjoying the sight of his enemy so entirely defeated. Princess Nastoya (present for once) turned her massive, wise, grey head towards the old man.

"Wizard," she said "We would like to know what happened in your city."

The old man shrugged lifelessly. He didn't know. He didn't care. Nothing really mattered to him anymore anyway.

"How did you get out?" someone asked. He wasn't sure who.

"Secret tunnel. Some Gale Force are still loyal to me." He said, his voice a hoarse monotone. It was about that point that Fiyercrow slipped in and slid into a seat next to Glinda. There weren't a large number of people watching; the council had done their best to keep this from becoming a spectator sport and were trying doing everything they could to avoid the accusation of 'unfair prejudice' from their allies. Though, really, it was a very difficult thing to keep in mind when faced with the architect behind the attempted enslavement and/or genocide against their people.

"Why did you come here?" Elphaba asked. None of the Animals had any problem with the green witch serving on the council or even on this case, nor had there ever really been any arguments about it. Within weeks of her defection it became clear even to the staunchest of doubters that she would not be sympathetic towards the Wizard because of their blood tie. If anything, it made her more hostile towards him.

The old man clearly seemed to know this on some level, perhaps even consciously. He looked directly at his daughter.

"I had no where else to go." He said, speaking directly to her. Elphaba clenched her teeth and said nothing a low murmur went through the occupants of the room.

"So what exactly are you expecting us to do with you?" Princess Nastoya enquired. The Wizard looked at the She-Elephant and shrugged again.

"Well…we can't technically hold him prisoner." Muhlama's father said "We signed a treaty, remember? We can't prosecute him for his crimes until after the war is over."

"That doesn't mean we have to keep him here." Raye remarked, silently offering up an apology to her brother through their magically-enforced twin bond. She was in impartial-councilor mode and felt a minimal tie to the wizard anyway, but knew that her brother was another story altogether.

"I see no reason why we should baby the man who sought to exterminate us!" Kynot scoffed

"So you'd rather lower yourselves to his level?" Glinda asked from the non-councilor seats. She felt a lingering sort of fondness for the old man in spite of everything; the years she had spent in his service had not all been bad for her. Besides, it was unlikely that anyone else besides his grandson might even consider taking his side, admittedly for very good reason.

"Glinda…does have a point." Muhlama's father said reluctantly after a pause.

"Besides, we have bigger problems right now then worrying about him." Elphaba threw in suddenly.

"He'll just take up space."

"We don't want him here!"

"He's made his bed, now he has to lie in it!"

The din grew louder until yelling filled the room. The few onlookers jeered, people argued, but the man in the middle remained silent. Fiyero watched Elphaba and his children. The green woman's face remained a hardened mask. Liir looked completely torn and Raye was just…well…relatively indifferent, though she looked quite concerned about her brother. Every once in a while she glanced over at him worriedly. It was Nastoya who called the room to order in the end.

"Enough!" she ordered. She only had to repeat herself once to quiet them down.

"The Wizard shall remain here in protective custody until after the alliance meeting when he shall, with any luck, take up residence with the Gillikin delegates."

"What?" Elphaba demanded, bright eyes flashing

"As per the treaty he will not be placed in a cell, but we shall still be putting a guard on his door."

"Your majesty, you can't be serious!" Kynot hissed.

"He will not be harmed while in our…care until the war has been declared over, as per the treaty with our allies."

"You know, I'm pretty sure we could probably win without the Gillikins…" someone mentioned suggestively; everyone knew that that was the ally that would really have a problem with an accident befalling the Wizard. The Vinkus didn't particularly care they suspected. This comment was not responded to and the session was ended decisively. Liir let out a whistle of air through his cheeks and sagged in his chair, relieved. Several of the members of the council seemed angry, others were too tired to care. Raye shrugged, unable to muster up enough energy for an outraged outburst. Elphaba remained in her seat for several minutes, staring at nothing in particular her long, slender fingers dug into the table, clenching it into a fist before standing and making her way to the door.

The Wizard watched her and suddenly stood. He called out her name and she ignored him, disappearing out the door. Glinda looked from the old man to her old roommate and then back again. Fiyero glanced over to see a thoughtful frown on her face. Her full, painted lips pursed, the blonde got to her feet and started making her own way out. As soon as she was outside she caught sight of her green friend walking down the corridor.

"Elphaba! Elphaba, come back here!" Glinda yelled at her friend as she chased after her, her heels clicking on the stone floor. Unlike the others, she was not in her nightgown but a regular day dress, albeit not a fancy ballgown "_Elphaba_!"

"What?" The green woman snapped as she whipped around, "What do you want?"

"Elphaba, talk to him!" the blonde implored. The Green woman paused and looked at her with incredulity and anger before scoffing and continuing her charge down the hallway.

"You've got to be kidding! That man destroyed my life!"

"That man was a _wonderful_ grandfather to Liir!" Glinda snapped

"And you think that makes everything _okay_?" The green witch demanded furiously "Sweet _OZ_ you're unbelievable! He's a tyrant! He's getting _exactly_ what was coming to him! Do you know what he did? What he had other people do in his name?"

"I'm not condoning what—"

"It sure as hell _sounds_ like you are!"

"Oh will you listen for one minute _for once in your life_?"

"Not on this topic!"

"That man took care of you when you were sick, protected you from Morrible after—"

"After what? After sending a massive witch-hunt after me? After nearly killing me and forcing me to serve him for nearly twenty years? After what he did to Dr. Dillamond? After he lied to everyone in Oz? After he dragged my name through every kind of mud and shit he could find? I've more then repaid any debt to him you could possibly construe! If anything _he_ still owes _me_!" Elphaba cut her friend off mid sentence and rounded on her, her fury palpable, though Glinda was not afraid. Unlike her ex-husband, her green friend would never harm her.

"I'm not arguing that!" the blonde snapped "But are you really going to nurse this grudge all your life?"

"It's amazingly therapeutic!" The green woman retorted tersely as she whipped around and set off again at that incredible pace which forced Glinda to jog just to keep up with those long strides.

"Elphaba, he just wants to talk! That man loves you!"

"That man nearly destroyed me and held me hostage through my son _for nearly 2 decades!_" the taller witch roared as she started up the stairs.

"For Oz' sake, Elphaba _he's your father_!" Glinda yelled as she leaned forward, one hand gripping the railing as she tried to catch her breath. The other which whipped around and glared down at the blonde with fury.

"Let's get one thing straight, Glinda. That man will _never_ be my father! He didn't _raise_ me! He didn't _teach_ me anything! He was never there to hold me when I needed someone's shoulder to cry on, he didn't protect me, he didn't contribute to any part of my being! His…_semen_ may have played a part in my conception but that is it! His blood contributed to mine but that is all we share and that is all we ever _will_ share! He had _nothing_ to do with the woman I am today! _He. Is. Not. My. **Father**! ARE WE QUITE CLEAR?_" Elphaba's volume slowly increased throughout her speech to the point where she was bellowing at the end of it. The blonde was visibly taken aback by the force of her argument and for a long time neither of them said anything, nor did anyone else in the vicinity. After a few moments the green witch turned and started to resume her climb up the stairs.

"Elphaba," Glinda beckoned, a new, strange tone to her voice that made her prickly friend hesitate even if it didn't halt her.

"Elphaba, you've always been the smart one. The one who likes to _think_. Well, if you ask me, you should _think_ about what you just said." Glinda stated as she straightened and turned to go back down the stairs, fixing her tiara and dusting off her skirts unnecessarily before looking over her shoulder again "And _then_ tell me that you have nothing in common with that old man there."

The green woman's bright eyes were wide and ablaze with fury, her nostrils flaring with each breath as she turned to watch her friend stalk off. She caught sight of Fiyero coming up and then continued her angry march up the stairs and into their rooms, slamming the door behind her. The Scarecrow flinched at the sound and then sighed.

"Are…you sure you want to go in there, Farro?" Rhonaraye asked from his elbow. Liir was by her side and both of them looked dubious. The Scarecrow huffed and shook his head as he went after his lover. The pair's twins exchanged looks and shrugged wearily.

"I guess I'd better try and get some shut-eye." He said, "You know, before it really hits the fan."

"More than it already has?" she asked sarcastically.

"You got a point." He replied as he rubbed his neck. "Still…things are starting to get a little chaotic. We could probably weasel out a whole evening to ourselves at this point. Raye stopped short at this.

"What did you say?"

Liir looked back at her and blinked.

"Well, there's a whole bunch of protests about the Wizard gathering now. It's going to be chaos. I don't think anyone would fault us for lying low for a day or two while it dies down. They're our friends, but we do now have a walking reminder of who we're related to right down the hall. It might not be wise to draw attention to ourselves."

"You're right." Raye agreed absently before continuing suggestively "So…if Candle can get a day off it might be a good time to slip away." She watched with satisfaction as her brother's face lit up with the possibility, so cheered and caught up by the idea of the chance at a date which could last longer than half an hour that he didn't notice his twin was guarding against him again. She watched him set off towards the infirmary a little guiltily before glancing around and melting into the shadows discreetly.

She made her way back to her room and dressed quickly, scrawling a quick note for Ralimla to take care of Zach the following morning. It was nothing out of the ordinary, she often had to leave suddenly and no one would think twice about it. Besides, she may be back before anyone would notice she was gone. That was the goal, anyway. With any luck no one would know she had left and if they did they wouldn't question where she went, for if they found out, well…

There was a good chance she'd find herself on trial for treason.

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Fiyero had gotten very little out of Elphaba when he had first gone to her after her fight with Glinda, though admittedly he hadn't put tin that much effort. Sometimes Elphaba required patience and when she was in a mood that bad it was not a wise idea to press the matter too much. She would merely become aggressively defensive. So, he waited for her to calm down.

He was surprised that it only took a few hours. He'd expected her to seethe and rage for days, but instead she walked into their room at dawn. Fiyero looked up when she appeared at the threshold of the door that connected their bedroom to the small living room in their quarters. She leaned against the frame slightly, her disheveled braid draped over her shoulder, the black a stark contrast to the green of her skin and the white of her dressing gown. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and she stared at her feet for a few minutes. Finally, she looked up at him.

"You want to know what that shouting match with Glinda was about." She stated

"Elphaba, I think everyone heard…" he stopped when she put an emerald hand up to stave off anything further.

"I haven't been completely honest with you." She said, making direct eye contact with him "Firstly, you should know that I'm angry with Glinda for what she said, yes. But I'm also angry because she had a point and she knows it."

Fiyero noted that Elphaba hadn't managed to admit that Glinda was right in any way per se, but held his tongue. He had a feeling that his lover's friend knew more than he did on this matter, but that that was about to change. The Witch sighed and walked over to the chair across from their bed and sat down in it, facing him. She took a few moments to collect her thoughts.

"The mere suggestion that I have _anything_ in common with that man is utterly repugnant to me, as was made abundantly clear with that shameful spectacle I made of myself back there. However, Glinda is…right. We share more than just a bond of blood now. We…how do I explain this?" she sighed again and looked out the window before shaking her head, her silvery eyes shining slightly as she took a deep breath.

"When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was terrified. I didn't even know if I wanted to go through with it."

"I remember. I was there."

"But afterwards…I was scared, sure, but I actually wanted it. I wanted it even more when they born, even though I thought I was dying. I _wanted_ to be their mother. I wanted to be Rhonaraye's mother even though for a decade and a half I didn't know she still existed…just like the Wizard didn't know that _I_ existed and was desperate to be a father, period. I didn't raise her, just like _he_ didn't raise me. And now, just as he will never be my father, never be _papa_ to me, I will never be _mamma_ to Rhonaraye. I want to be, more then anything, but I never will. I can be her colleague, I can be her teacher, perhaps I can even be her friend. But I won't be her mother. Not really. She won't…she won't want me when she's sick or when she's hurt. I'm not the one she'd be bursting to tell first if she, say, got engaged or if she was expecting. She won't mean to shirk me, and she doesn't. The fact is that I wasn't there for her. I missed her first steps, her first words, her first everything. Oh, please don't look at me like that, I know it was the same with you and Liir but, well, Liir _never_ had a father. And...Rhonaraye did. A good one."

Elphaba looked down at her hands as she spoke her last statement. Suddenly something clicked for Fiyerow.

"That's why you don't want to see Ralimla, isn't it?" he asked her slowly. His lover nodded and stood. She started to pace.

"She's my friend. I don't owe her my life; I owe her something worth much more, I owe her my _child's_ life. I'll forever be grateful to her for taking Rhonaraye in as an infant and will always ove her for it. And yet…part of me _hates_ her! And I hate myself for it. And part of me wonders if it was only the universe's way of balancing the scale; If I hadn't delayed in rescuing her all those years ago then her cub wouldn't have died. So instead, she got mine. Seeing Ralimla just reminds me that she's the one Rhonaraye associates with safety and comfort and love, _she_ was the one who was there for her. And I'm also reminded of the fact that she was a lot better at it than I ever was with poor Liir. I know that its horrible, but there it is. I'm a hypocrite and a terrible, jealous person."

"Elphaba…" Fiyero said as he got to his feet and encircled her with his arms. She didn't cry, but she wasn't really much of a weeper to begin with. Instead she returned the hug (something she didn't do with everyone) and held onto him tightly as he stroked her hair, offering her eloquently silent comfort.

"It's horrible, I know! But...even then. Frex was an always will be my father and he _hated_ me! That was no secret, everybody knew it. He didn't want me as his daughter. But Ralimla loves my daughter and everyone knows that. If I can't ever accept the Wizard as my father, and I never will, when Frex would have happily watched me drowned, how can I ask Rhonaraye, whose adoptive mother would rather die then hurt her to accept the Emerald Vizier as her mother? Quite simply, I can't. I shouldn't even try and yet I do. I'm just like him, I'm just like the Wizard..."

Fiyero hugged her more tightly.

"I promise you, you're not a bad person and you are nothing like the Wizard." he told her firmly.

Elphaba only wished that she could believe that herself.

* * *

**Now for My Anonymous Reviewers:**

**GoodWitchesOfOz**: Yes, dark and dangerous it certainly was, though I got to tell you, it was kind of fun to write...not quite sure what that says about me... Yeah, I also like cliffies, I'm glad you're cool with them too! Sorry for the long wait here, but thanks for pointing out the typo. I'll go back and fix it at some point if I haven't already=). Next chapter you'll see the meeting between the two mages, so I hope you'll like it!

**FriFro**: I definitely missed you! And no worries, i can definitely relate to computer problems and heavy schedules!  
Why wouldn't you get a reply? I always reply to you guys! I've just started PMing the other reviewers as soon as I get their reviews but I still leave anonymous reviewers with a reply on the next chapter. I'm really, really glad to get your review, thanks so much!


	35. Part 3 Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**AN: _Okay, uberly long wait. My apologies. I've been ridiculously busy lately. I remember I had something else I wanted to say here, but I can't remember what it was right now. So anyway, here's the chapter and anonymous review replies at the bottom. usual request: Review._**

**Part 3 Chapter 6**

Xorthion the mage was practically thrumming with anticipation as he glided down into the meadow. He hadn't wasted any time when he had felt that door in the back of his mind open for the second time in a week. He had been more than happy to slip away from the Goblin King, he hated sitting through those meetings where he was often talked about and talked at as opposed to actually being addressed. This wasn't anything new for him though, not with His Majesty anyway.

He was pretty sure where he would find her even if she hadn't told him where to go. The location she had given him gave him hope. The grove was a special place for the couple. When they had been together all those years ago this had been a favourite place of theirs; they had often slipped away to spend an afternoon there or watch the sun rise or set from the peak of the rolling hills.

The young man glided in and landed in the knee-high grass neatly and looked around, the sun reflecting off his unusually pale skin and hair, his golden eyes glinting in the cheery light.

"I haven't set foot in this place in years and yet it's just as I remember." A familiar alto stated clearly. Xorthion turned around and looked up to see her sitting on the top of the hill where they used to sit together, beside the rose bush at the very peak. She twirled a flower absently in her fingers, her elbows resting on her raised knees and her coat spread around behind her almost like skirts. The scarlet hair that he so loved was confined to a loose ponytail that hung over her shoulder. She looked up at him with those breathtaking silver eyes.

"It's been untouched by the war, at least it looks that way. I can tell that it's been protected and maintained, both physically and magically. Was that you?"

Xorthion nodded.

"Yes." he said. She nodded to him once in gratitude, her bright eyes boring into his.

"Thank you." Rhonaraye said, her tone sincere but otherwise difficult to read "And thank you for agreeing to meet me."

The unspoken words '_without an ambush'_ hung between them, though he knew she wouldn't insult him by stating it out loud even if she did still mistrust him so. It would hurt if she did.

"You know that I've wanted this for a long time." The golden-eyed young man said. He didn't move towards her, waiting for an invitation from her to do so. She didn't move. He looked at the rose in her fingers. She noticed his gaze and held up the flower.

"You always leave me one of these. They always find me somehow." Raye remarked.

"That's because they were for you. Don't you remember?" Xorthion asked, watching her carefully. He could tell by her expression that she briefly relived the moment years ago when the two of them had stood on the very spot she now perched. He had shown her the bush, plucking a single blossom and presenting it to her as a gift: a token. She had been stunned, but pleasantly so and accepted it with a sort of shy joy. It had been one of those few, golden moments in Xorthion's life when everything had seemed perfect. However, in the present, things were anything but.

"A short while ago we captured Sir Chuffery, I'm sure you know that." Raye eventually replied, changing the subject.

"I'd say that you're welcome to him, except I wouldn't have inflicted him on you, not in a thousand years." Xorthion said with a slight little nervous laugh.

"His conversation was repulsive of course, but…it had its interesting points amongst the offensive blather." She remarked as she looked down at the rose again "In the process of attempting to threaten me he inadvertently said something rather strange, something I thought impossible but which _would_ explain a few things if it were true. Tell me, how long had you been in the Goblin King's…service, before I met you?"

"As long as I can remember." He answered honestly. He wouldn't lie to her. Never again. "He is my first memory. The only father, or father-like _figure_, I'd ever known."

"And when did he bind you?" Rhonaraye asked as she met his eyes again, her shining slightly. Xorthion froze. She _knew_? She knew. How…?

"I don't know." He replied carefully "When I was very young."

"What did he use? Blood? Skin? Bone?" she asked

"All three." He said "I was born with six toes on my left foot. One was taken, for the bone. The scar on my back isn't from an accident, a strip of skin was used and the blood from both wounds, too, I'm told, but I was too young to remember anything more than being in pain."

Rhonaraye flinched at the listing of each injury involuntarily.

"All when you were a child…" She whispered in horror, remembering the traumatizing experience she'd had when someone had attempted the ritual on her "How could I not have sensed that tie…"

"I didn't want you to, and neither did he. It's deep."

"Of course it is! It was when you were a child! The coward! There's no way he could have imprisoned you otherwise." The redhead hissed. The hard rage in her voice made him blink, taken aback. He hardly dared breathe as she stood and started walking down the hill, stopping a short distance from him.

"I had no idea. I'm so sorry…all this time you really _didn't_ have a choice, you were trying to tell me that. I'm so sorry… Did, um…Did he, um," she paused and collected herself slightly "What did he do? I mean, how bad are the compulsions? I can only imagine a bind sealed that deeply…but, did he ask you to…" she was too embarrassed to finish the question, but she didn't need to. He knew where the inquiry was going.

"Nothing between us was a lie, I swear it!" Xorthion insisted vehemently as he closed the gap between them and put his hands on her shoulders. He didn't shake them, though. She searched his gaze, not quite believing him yet as his golden eyes bored into her silver ones "_Please_, believe me! Look, a month before I met you, the King let me go. I begged him for the chance to explore the world and my own power and he agreed because he knew he'd always be able to call me back! I didn't know anything about binding back then, I didn't know there was any other kind of life other than perhaps that of a farmer or servant. He allowed me to go on the condition that I never enter a large city so that I wouldn't find out otherwise; he just didn't want my trial-and-error process going on where it could damage his precious property. When I met you, I was just what I said: A traveler. Nothing that happened between us was a lie,"

He moved to brush a stray strand of hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear before thinking. She let him. In fact, her unscarred hand moved to cover his, holding it there. Her penetrating gaze searched his face for a full minute before she finally spoke

"I believe you," She whispered. In a motion that was surprisingly swift she slid her head forward and pressed her lips to his. The hesitance lasted only a moment before the kiss deepened, her hand moving to grip the back of his head while one of his hands formed a gentle grip in her hair, her free arm wrapping around his neck while his encircled her waist.

It was their first kiss in 5 years and they certainly made the best of it. Neither knew how long they'd stood like that before the need for oxygen ended it, even then they didn't let go of each other and touched their foreheads together.

"Does this mean that you love me again?" he asked her, kissing her neck and cheek. She pulled back just far enough to look him in eye

"I never quite learned how to stop." She confessed in a whisper before moving her lips to his again. The second kiss was as passionate as the first and turned into a tight embrace after their lips parted. Rhonaraye smiled into his neck as he inhaled the scent of her hair. She had been able to live her life without him and be content, but she hadn't felt as complete as she did right at that moment. No one else could make the weight she carried on her shoulders melt away or make the rest of the world disappear, even if it was only for a moment. She didn't _need_ him to live, but she _wanted_ him. She wanted him more than anything, and she loved him more than anyone had yet to guess. She had told the truth in that even when she hated him she had never been able to stop loving him; it was a complicated emotion, love, one that seemed to be easily entangled with its opposite.

"We'll get you out of his hold," Rhonaraye breathed into his ear "Together we'll find a way to break the binding. I won't leave you in his clutches like that, not now that I know…Lurline I'm so sorry, I should have known! I _will_ free you, if it's the last thing I do!"

"No," Tristan said as he pulled back to cup her face lightly with his hands, "No, don't you see? You freed me _long_ ago. He wanted me to attack you three days before you and Jack left for the forests."

Rhonaraye searched his gaze with a sort of desperate hope as her four fingered hand moved up his chest to his shoulder.

"I _want_ to trust you," She said quietly just before their lips met again. The pair devoured each other's lips until Rhonaraye frowned and stiffened, something clicking in her head about what he had just told her. Her hands moved back to his chest to push him back gently, but firmly.

"Wait, wait…Tristan, wait." She said breathlessly when he resisted pulling away. Both of them were breathing audibly, their bodies still pressed against one another, but the expression on the redhead's face told the other mage that something wasn't right.

"What did you say before?" she asked with a slight frown.

"That you saved me. He wanted me to attack you and I wouldn't do it. I never thought I'd be able to withstand the compulsions…"

"Not that…_when, _exactly_,_ did you say you accomplished this?" she asked him. Suddenly he realized his miscalculation, and worse, _she_ saw it in his face.

"No, no, no, no! Wait, Rhonaraye!" He pleaded, gripping her more tightly in an attempt to keep her from pulling away from him as she shook her head. She shoved him away and stepped back, still shaking her head, her silver eyes shimmering. She held out her maimed hand in a stopping motion when he reached for her.

"Let me—"

"_Explain __**now**_!" she half-screamed, a tear sliding down her cheek. She wasn't about to be caught by the same thing twice, "_Explain_ to me how you killed one of my best friends _in cold blood _and set a trap for me and Jack when you were free to _disobey_ _him_!"

"You weren't supposed to be in the cabin! Just—" the other mage cut himself off, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Rhonaraye's eyes widened

"Just _Jack_?"

"Jack and…Kynot. They were supposed to separate you and Jack and divert Kynot to the safe house—someone had to go! You have to understand that! He was going to make sure of it!" Tristan said, his volume rising as she turned her back to him and hugged herself tightly as one hand clamped itself over her mouth.

"Rhonaraye—" he said as he moved forward and put a hand on her shoulder

"Stop it!" She hissed, whipping around and slapping his hand off her "Just stop it! Lurline_, _if you were bound and under compulsions then that-that would have been _him_ doing it with you as a-a bystander! But _you_!" She shoved him, _hard_, tears streaming down her face as a nearby shrub burst into flame "You were _free_? You did it ALL ON YOUR OWN!"

"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?" The other mage bellowed, his own temper and pain coming to a boil as the wind picked up around them

"TELL ME!" Raye roared, "I expected you to TELL ME! It was never about the damned _spying_! I was a spy! _I'D_ lied to people for masters who didn't give a shit about me! I would have understood! It was **never** about _THE SPYING_!"

"The King demanded blood! It had to be somebody and I'd be damned if it was going to be one of us!"

"_We_ could have defended ourselves! Nothing can beat us when we're together, you've said so yourself!"

"You don't understand anything, do you? It wasn't just the binding! He was all I'd ever known, he was my master and I was devoted to him!"

"And _I_ was devoted to the rebellion! Right from the beginning! Remember how you hated that? I would have done anything for them and they exploited that until I told them where to get off! If I thought something was wrong I _didn't do it_!"

Thunder boomed overhead and lightning crashed across the sky as clouds gathered in response to the mages' turbulent emotions.

"What about Mirisee? You butchered her throat like she'd been in an abattoir!"

"I had a choice between them and _you_." Xorthion snarled. Rhonaraye froze as the rain from the storm clouds started to fall.

"What?" she asked— almost fearfully— after a pause.

"Everything had gone wrong. Kynot had gotten back instead of you, Mirisee hadn't managed to save either of you, but they left them and took you prisoner. The Goblin king offered me a trade. I took his offer and killed them. Jack was unconscious. There was no way he'd survive anyway, he was too badly burned. He'd be in pain the rest of his life. I was interrupted just after,"

"Please…" Raye pleaded as she shook her head slowly in horror, not wanting to hear any more of this "No more…"

"He wouldn't accept it! He wanted more."

"Sweet Lurline, this is twisted," The redhead breathed, unconsciously backing away a step

"So before she could wake up and tell them what I'd done I…well you know what I did. It was quick, I swear to you. And when he wanted more I-I put my foot down!" Xorthion told her, emphasizing the last statement with a step in place with one foot.

Rhonaraye closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath before meeting his eye again

"You should have lied." She croaked "I would have believed you, I wanted to so badly... You should have told me that you didn't break the bind until you rescued me or afterwards. I wanted so much to…" she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, sniffing. He crossed the distance between them and rubbed her arms slightly

"None of that will matter soon! I have a plan, a plan that will free both of us! You'll see, we can put everything behind us, start afresh! You'll see! It'll be a fresh start for the world! And this time, _we'll_ be the ones calling the shots!"

"Calling the shots?" the redhead repeated

"Yes! I found something. Just you wait, I'll free us both and end the war in one swoop! All it will take is one spell and a little dragon power and _we_ will rule! No one will ever tell us what to do again!"

For a moment he just stood there, looking at her, silently pleading with her. She took a moment to collect herself before pushing past him, hanging her head slightly to hide the tears continuing to escape her iron control. After a few steps up the hill she stopped, swooped down to pick her staff up from the long grass and turned back to him. She looked defeated, wilted almost, her expression pained.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you." She told him quietly as she took another deep, shuddering breath "But I guess we really _can't_ go back," With that she seized the edge of her long coat and pulled it in an upwards swirl, disappearing into the rain before he could stop her.

For a moment the unusually pale, golden eyed mage stood there dumbly. Then the next he let out a shrieking roar of rage and anguish, igniting the entire meadow in one swoop before dropping to his knees. The flames died with the motion but the damage had been done. What had been green and lush was now black and crumbling. When he looked up he saw that the only thing to survive the carnage was a single rose still stubbornly clinging to life from the bush.

He let it be.

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Rhonaraye materialized with her discreet puff of smoke in her workroom, leaning against the wall. The muscles in her jaw worked as she struggled to keep her tears under control even as they slid freely down her cheeks. Her mental guards against her brother were still up so that if he got anything it would hopefully be dampened. Slowly she sank to the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest.

There were those whose senses she couldn't dampen telepathically, however, for a few minutes later there was a snuffling and scratching at the door. A dog whimpered and the mage waved her hand to allow him to enter. Killyjoy trotted over to his mistress and whined as he nuzzled her. He always hated it when she was upset. The massive dog flopped down and she relaxed her knees to one side so that her familiar could half-crawl into her lap, large though he was. She wrapped her arms around him and silently held him close, her frame shuddering silently as she waited to run out of tears again.

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The Thropp/Tiggular clan was careful to lay low immediately after the Wizard's arrival. That, combined with the mage's own solitary personality, meant that no one had noticed that Rhonaraye had even gone anywhere. In fact, she even met with her mother and brother in a secluded corner of the library for their routine research get-togethers. However, she did seem distracted and distant.

Candle had joined them as well, so had Zach. He was enjoying the day off from school and was rolling around with Killyjoy. The redhead watched them distractedly and frequently lost track of the conversation, something which the others noticed but said nothing about. Her current mood unnerved them. Sullenness or outright sulking was not entirely out of character for her, neither was the silent treatment. But this depressed withdrawal was completely new.

"…Nari? Nari!" Liir said, trying to get her attention. She jumped slightly

"What?" she asked

"We were wondering what you made of this," Elphaba said, sliding a book under her nose "It seems to be something mage-related,"

"Rhonaraye frowned slightly and peered more closely at the text. It took her a minute to settle the moving runes into words, a skill that she lagged slightly behind Elphaba and Liir, but then shook her head.

"No. It's not what we're looking for. That has growing properties and was designed for plants, not things with blood." The redhead stated as she shoved the volume away.

"Okay, so what we do know is that we're looking for something old, something water-based, something buried in legend. There has to be some kind of riddle or a map or something that would lead us to it!" Liir said.

"Maybe. I don't know…" suddenly Elphaba froze, mid-sentence. She looked at her children. They could practically see the gear fall into place. "What if we're in the wrong section?" she asked.

"What?" Raye asked wearily

"We know what the properties are that we're looking for. The reversal of spells is only the most extreme. If we think this thing could be real we should be looking for more subtle side-effects. This thing is supposed to have healing properties. If there is a body of water that has all these qualities then chances are good that there will be some minor run-off, even just with water evaporation. This thing is supposed to have healing properties…"

"So we'd be looking for areas with unusually hardy populations: low incidents of disease, slightly longer life expectancy than normal," Rhonaraye continued

"I'm betting that water would be good for plants too," Liir added, catching on. "And you're right, there probably would be run-off, but not much. I'd be surprised if the affected people had any idea, considering how closely guarded the legend has been,"

Just then Candle, who was reading a storybook to Zach made a "grr"ing noise in the process of her tale. Rhonaraye frowned

"What are you reading?" she inquired.

"The Time Dragon! Like the clock," the little Mule explained "How he dreamed Oz into existence,"

"Can I see?" Raye asked. Candle shrugged and handed her the book. She flipped through it with a frown briefly before closing the book, clearly deep in thought. She handed it back to the Quadling as she stood.

"Please excuse me, I have something I need to look up," she said distantly as she rose to her feet and walked down the rows of shelves "I'll be ready to go to the conference in time,"

Elphaba opened her mouth to say something but then closed it and sat back in her chair. Liir exchanged a glance with Candle.

"She's shutting me out again. Something's wrong," he said "But she won't tell us until she's ready to, I know that much by now," he said. With that, they started combing through records instead of storybooks.

88888

The Conference was held in an abandoned mine. Ironically enough, it was the same one that Jack and Rhonaraye had escaped from all those years ago, an irony not missed by Madame Morrible. The Fish-like woman sulked as she waited with the Wizard. Actually, she'd been in a permanent Sulk since the war broke out. Nothing had gone her way in the past few years. The Wizard had lost faith in her and she her power over him. And that-that infuriating Goblin had returned! Would he never cease to be the bane of her existence?

The pair had a long and colourful history that no one but the two of them knew the entirety of. All they knew was that the pair had grown up together or something, but both had done their best to humiliate and destroy the other at every opportunity since they had reached adulthood. It was a complicated and mysterious relationship that no one had ever really been that interested in unraveling.

Next to Morrible sat Dorothy's replacement on the council; the idiotic, Cowardly Lion. He was shivering, living up to his embarrassing given name and jumped at the slightest sound. On her other side was the Wizard, a very much broken man these days. He had at least made an attempt at shaving, albeit a poor one and thankfully he had showered so the worst of his odor was dampened. He had lost a considerable amount of weight over the past few years, his clothes hanging off him. His stare was dimmed with depression. He looked brittle.

The same could not be said of the Vinkus King as he arrived. While not any kind of body builder, it was clear that this was a man who had made exercise a part of his routine for most of his life. One could see his resemblance to Fiyero, Ijiri and Liir for that matter. He had a similarly shaped face and there was a familiarity to his features for those who knew his descendents, at least the male ones. The King took a seat at the other end of the circular table. Members of this meeting were trickling in slowly, as was expected when various distances needed to be covered and allowing time needed for stealth.

After Morrible had been waiting for an hour they were finally all assembled.

There were also representatives from Gillikin present; two nobles who never arrived in anything less than some kind of finery. Apparently a tendency towards peacock-like clothing choices was cultural for them. Meh. Whatever. Kynot was representing Nastoya who could not make the long journey. Once they were all settled they got straight to the point with a refreshing lack of diplomatic tap-dancing. They made the usual opening updates on the various fronts (Vinkus=good, Gillikin=acceptable, Emerald City=supposedly good but considering the source's history it was unlikely to be retaken any time soon) but what everyone clearly wanted to know was the details on the attack at the base and the fall of the portal. The Press Secretary was quick to pounce on this apparent defeat.

"So, Miss Throular, what exactly happened at the Northern Border?" Morrible demanded imperiously.

"Well, what do you want to know? There was a fight and we lost." Rhonaraye informed her in a dry, somewhat hostile tone. There had never been any love-loss between the two. The Red-haired mage had mistrusted and heartily disliked the "Press Secretary" from before the two had met and Morrible was still sour about the girl's defiance, rebellion and above all that she hadn't managed to harness any of that power for her own means.

"Yes, but I would like to know _why_." Morrible snapped

"You have the reports right in front of you and I would have thought you would all have read them." Elphaba said calmly. The Green woman was of course, supporting her daughter fully. She had a grudge against Moribble almost as deep as the Goblin's.

"We have." The Vinkus King said.

"We haven't." The Gilikinese argued. The two nations had found a rift forming between them in recent years. The Animals also began slipping barbs at the Gale Force officers that were present and the Wizard, though surprisingly quiet was nevertheless as helpful as a spoiled grapefruit. The discussion deteriorated from there as Rhonaraye and the other two from the Animal council tried to tell them that they didn't have the forces or the strength to keep this up for another three years. They had the support from the Vinkus and Elphaba of course, but the Gale Force, Morrible and the Gilikinese refused to agree with them, not even on the possibility of sneak attacks and/or Guerilla Warfare, insisting that the Animals were just Bloodthirsty and Battle hungry. The arguments began going in circles (as Raye pointed out to them) until Morrible finally went too far with an accusation.

"Well, it doesn't sound as though you put your best effort into the fight Lady _Mage_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raye demanded

"That it seems whenever you and that other sorcerer get into a fight, we don't seem to see any victories."

"Have you considered the fact that it might be because our own magical forces are spread too thin?"

"Magically you don't seem to know what he's doing most of the time. I thought the two of you had some sort of connection." Morrible sneered. Liir and Elphaba exchanged looks. The two of them had experience with both women and could tell where this was going.

"Yes, that connection would be that we're both mages. The Lady Glinda and Elphaba are both witches, but they don't read each other's minds. Besides, on the subject of being 'in touch', where exactly were you when that self-centered, self-righteous psychopathic Rust Bucket went and betrayed us to the Goblin King? He used to be your agent didn't he? And what about little Dorothy? I seem to remember you boasting that you had her under control."

"That was an isolated incident that I could just as easily point to you for." Morrible replied. Rhonaraye jaw set itself stubbornly.

"Play with fire and you'll get burned, Morrible." She said coldly, the temperature dropping a few degrees around the press secretary in deliberate opposition to the element she had referenced, reminding the other woman subtly of the power at the young mage's disposal. The redhead sat back in her chair

"Besides, speaking of connections," she said tauntingly "I'd like to know what your story is with the Goblin King. You two really do seem to know a lot about one another, care to enlighten us?"

It was clever timing for such a question in the conversation and both women knew it. Morrible's argument involving Xorthion had been effectively combated and shut down. Bringing up that angle again to more appropriately combat this barb would seem petty to these diplomats, who were _not_ the ordinary gullible citizens of Oz and many of whom already disliked her. The Press Secretary glared daggers at her one time student and pursed her fleshy, fishy lips.

"Check your arrogance, girl."

"Coming from you isn't that rather like the pot calling the kettle black?" Raye quipped

"I was young once, you know. You and I are not that different. If you're not careful you could end up like me, you know." the Press Secretary said with a slight leer. The change in the redhead was instantaneous. Her hands suddenly smacked the table as she leaned forward, not quite out of her chair. The stance was subtly predatory and her expression was hard, her mouth in thin line and her gaze steely.

"I'm nothing like you, Morrible. And maybe I should rephrase this, _don't push me_." she said, her tone lethal.

The others in the room watched the two women cautiously. Both were dangerous and both had their claws out at the moment. To change the subject the Vinkus King cleared his throat.

"I hear you have made an impressive capture recently," he said. Elphaba nodded

"Sir Chuffery," She told the grandfather of her children. "Would anyone like him?"

"He's all yours," The Vinkus king remarked, only half-joking. Liir smiled slightly before turning to the GIllikins

"Have you had any word from your informants?" he inquired.

The meeting continued like that for another hour or two before the subject of resources and casualties came up.

"We can't keep this up," Elphaba finally stated "Our magical forces are spread too thin as it is in battle. I'm not even sure if Rhonaraye and I can afford to stay in one base together for much longer; too many other places need our protection,"

"Rhonaraye and Liir are always welcome in the Vinkus," The king offered, jumping at the chance to have his grandchildren stay with him. Elphaba didn't seem to mind the idea of her children being in the care of their powerful grandparents in the well-guarded palace stronghold of the royal family, far away from any current fighting. She said nothing though but smiled in a sort of wry conspiratorial manner at the King. The twins themselves were less gung-ho about such a plan.

"Wrapping us in cotton balls would rather defeat the point of using either of us at all. I can't stay in my room while a fight is going on," Raye said firmly, but not harshly before amending "But if the Vinkus called for aid I wouldn't hesitate to come of course,"

"Of course," The King agreed.

"This is all very touching but can we please get back to business now?" One of the Gillikin delegates drawled.

"Agreed" Liir said with a cordial nod. He opened his mouth to say something more when he suddenly went rigid, his mouth hanging open. His twin stiffened and in an instant he felt her mental presence again through their bond. It was a comforting rock to cling to as he struggled with this vision.

Liir's eyes took on the white flame again as they rolled upwards and he began shaking. There was a commotion as people leapt to their feet, most to get away from him but others (like his grandfathers and mother) were looking straight at him.

"No!" Raye and Liir cried at once. With a sweep of her arm the mage erected a barrier of lightning between them and her brother as the white fire flew from his eyes. The flame itself wouldn't hurt them, but he couldn't let them stop him, his power wouldn't allow it. If only he could explain

"He needs to finish the vision!" Raye said for him. He was grateful for that. That gratitude was his last cohesive thought for several minutes.

When he opened his eyes again he saw them all looking at him, some with concern, others with anticipation and some with slight disdain at this apparent 'attention seeking'. His sister lowered her barrier and his mother cautiously approached him

"What did you see?" she asked. Liir swallowed shakily

"I…think we should get comfortable." He said, looking around at each of them "We have a lot to discuss, and a lot to prepare for. There's going to be a battle before the months out, during the solar eclipse. It's going to be big."

88888888

By the time they finally left everyone's tempers were frayed and almost everyone was snappy and tense, terrified. However, one member seemed eerily calm, and if it was a show it was a damn good one. The redheaded mage seemed detached, distracted, weary. She apathetically noticed the Wizard watching her mother and brother longingly as they walked away from him. He saw her watching and for a moment their gazes locked, his broken and pleading, hers indifferent and stone-like. Rhonaraye knew that she should feel something for the man who had sired her mother, even if it was disdain for the atrocities he had committed, but she felt nothing. This was starting to become a pattern, this complete lack of concern, first with her own actions and now with members of the family. Somewhere in the back of her mind it concerned her but she just couldn't muster up the emotion.

Elphaba and Liir were still talking politely with the Vinkus king. Raye knew they were concerned about her but that wasn't anything particularly new, it was their job. However, once they had rounded the corner she picked up the pace to catch up with someone else. Discreetly the young woman sidled up with the Eagle, Kynot and subtly redirected him with a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded indignantly

"You and I have to talk." She stated.

* * *

**Reviewers:**

**GoodWitchesofOz: **We'll be getting back to some more physical fighting soon, no worries. They'll also be some slightly different drama in the next chapter too...hopefully. She'd be a traitor for going to see Tristan because as you saw she sort of is fraternizing with the enemy, even if it wasn't full out fraternizing at first, people tend to get really over-dramatic and paranoid during times of war, that's sort of what I was trying to get across.  
has been ticking me off lately too! Mostly with the fact that the search engine never seems to actually work. Anways, Glad to hear from you! BTW, did you get an account?

**FriFro**: I'm always glad to hear that I can help make someone's day! I haven't actually heard of Tarzan the musical (have the disney movie though!) but I'll bet it was amazing! I'm glad you had such a good time. I wish my classes got field trips like that! I was actually lucky enough to see Billy Elliot recently, that was pretty cool too:)


	36. Part 3 Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Okay! This is finally up! Yay! Love all you guys for reviewing! You're awesome for sticking with me for so long!**

**Part 3 chapter 7 **

The minute he returned to the base Liir went in search of Candle. He found her where she normally was, working her rounds at the infirmary with Dr. Akota. In the last few months she had decided that she wanted to become a full Doctor and had been speaking with the Bear about how to set about it. However, aside from her classes, she still worked as a nurse. When he entered the infirmary, she had her back to him and was making a note on a supply chart. He looked over at another nurse and put his finger to his lips. She chuckled silently and shook her head as he hopped into one of the free beds and signalled at the other woman who rolled her eyes and cried over-theatrically

"Oh nurse Candle! Oh nurse Candle! I think we have a serious one here!" Candle turned, her black bun gleaming in the lights and her brown eyes attentive at fist, ready to hear a list of symptoms, but then glittered mischievously at the smirk on the other woman's face as she jerked her head at Liir. The young man was lying prone on one of the cots with one arm thrown dramatically over his face and the other hanging limply off the side of the bed. A smile tugged at the corner of the Quadling's mouth as she walked over and sat down beside him.

"Really?" she asked, pretending to check his pulse, "Hmm. Well, this does look serious. I think I have a diagnosis."

"What? How long do I have before I succumb?" Liir "implored"

"Oh it's too late for that." The Quadling replied, "You've already got a terrible combination of the over-drama flu combined with a natural inability to act." Liir bolted up so that he was leaning on his elbow at this

"I do _so_ have acting ability!" He said indignantly. The patients watching tittered with laughter at the show "But nevertheless," He resumed his previous position, "What would you prescribe?" Candle briefly glanced at their audience and smirked. Liir was good at boosting moral, he often helped the patients with visits like these

"I would suggest a healthy dose of humility and…" she trailed off as she leaned in, "Maybe a kiss?"

"Happy to oblige." Her boyfriend replied as he met her lips. There were whistles and clapping at this move. Unnoticed in the doorway, Akota smiled. Candle had become so much more confident since she became involved with Liir, and particularly after she received that uniform. Liir never pushed her and always allowed Candle to make the first move, so she felt safe with him. They pulled back after only a few moments and Candle whispered in his ear,

"I'm off in an hour and I have something that I think you'll want to see. You have some fans waiting." Liir followed her gaze to the small cluster of little ones that were watching him eagerly. He was always sure to bring this group a few sweets. They were very tragic and unfortunate casualties—children caught in the crossfire and injured. These ones were on the road to recovery. There was another group whose fate was uncertain.

He kissed Candle on the cheek and went over to his little fan club to entertain them and the rest of the patients with some clever tricks sprinkled with just a hint of real magic. There was a round of excited applause as he began juggling a single orange which magically multiplied in the air until there were closer to 8 wheeling in a circle in the air…

An hour later Candle walked out to the courtyard that she and Liir spent so much time in to find him standing by the fountain with his back to her, Fiyero's old sword in his hands. She smiled slightly as she looked down at the book in her hands and bit her lip slightly with excitement.

"Liir, you'll never believe what we found while you were away! Do you remember that conversation you and your family had in the library before you left?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, I enlisted the help of a few people. I know this was your family project but once you started talking about records we, that is, Doctor Dillamond and myself, thought we might be able to help after all! Remember how you all looked through that crystal ball thing of yours?"

"Yes, we tried to scry for it but couldn't narrow it down enough." Liir said, remembering the failed attempt.

"Well, it _was_ good for something! We think we might have an idea about the Fountain."

All thoughts of battle and fear for his loved ones briefly vanished from Liir's mind at this information

"Of youth?" he asked

"Of course the fountain of youth! What other mythical healing water have you been looking for?" Candle asked with unusual snarkiness

"But…but how?" Liir asked

"Liir, it doesn't take magical powers to read old records. And we consulted Princess Nastoya. She may be old, but she's an Elephant. Their memories are near-perfect, just like the saying goes."

"Elephants never forget; yes, I know the phrase."

"Well, she remembered that when some bout of plague or another swept through Oz there was this one little Village near the mountains that wasn't very badly hit. A few of their old biddies got it but most of the young and strong didn't even catch a sniffle and the ones that did all survived. The plague barely touched them when it decimated pretty much every other town. Their in the mountains, tough land to farm but they haven't had an insufficient harvest in living memory! They aren't all bounty crops but this one wasn't affected all that much by the great famine. They only had to tighten their belts a notch or two and only lost the oldest of the old and the smallest of the small to mal-nutrition diseases. The berries in that area are always fat and juicy too, so the gathering is good as well. They're reasonably fed."

"What's their water source?" Liir asked, his interest officially peaked. Sweet Oz, he really was starting to sound like his mother.

"They have a few." Candle said, clearly excited about their findings as she took out the map she had brought with her and opened it up to show him. She pointed to two spots on it.

"Here are their two primary sources. There's a spring at the bottom of the mountain and a sort of stream thing. But they also collect run-off water from the mountain to supplement the other two sources!" the Quadling told him in excitement. "And then there's the village history to consider. Dr. Akota managed to rustle that up from his days as a traveling doctor."

"What sort of medical history?"

"A villager there can expect to live into their 80s and miscarriage is uncommon in women. On the other side of the mountain pass the life expectancy is decades shorter and 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth. We looked it up in some of the records from the days of the Ozma when everyone had to fill out her census every few decades. It fits with what you and your mother were saying earlier! The population is hardy, but not invincible!"

She showed him the notes from various travelers and the maps. He flipped through them with a sort of cautious excitement. In a rush of emotion he let out a cheer and picked Candle up, spinning her around once before setting her back on her feet to embrace her.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

"It wasn't just me, silly. Dr. Dillamond thought of it! He went through most of the records too and—" the Quadling was cut off by a gentle finger on her lips.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" Liir repeated. Candle smiled shyly and tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear before craning her neck upwards slightly to kiss her boyfriend. The young man wrapped his arms around her waist as hers slid around his neck as they closed their eyes to savor the moment.

Suddenly, without warning something flashed across Liir's mind with and he jumped back with a sharp intake of breath, his eyes flying open.

"Liir?" Candle asked, "Liir what's wrong?"

The young man shook his head to clear it. What _was_ wrong? Whatever it was had flashed through his mind to quickly, he couldn't quite figure out what it had been at that moment. At that instant the only image he got was that of his sister looking at a book on the floor a few paces in front of her, biting down on the back of her hand as she did so. She looked…scared. Shaky. The next second she was completely closed to him, rather rudely so too. Annoyed, he filed it away for later.

In the meantime his girlfriend was looking up at him with wide, concerned brown eyes as she grabbed his head between her hands to make him look at her. He smiled to try and reassure her.

"It's okay. It's nothing. Come, we should find my parents."

8888888888888888888

The Mage Xorthion sat alone in his chambers from within the Goblin stronghold, rubbing a rose petal between his fingers as he contemplated his latest encounter with Rhonaraye. It had been emotionally torturous but illuminating. Not everything was lost. She _did_ still love him. Now there was only the war in the way of their romance, he was sure of it. The Goblin King, the Wizard and Kynot, perhaps Princess Nastoya (depending on how much of the massive She-Elephant was still there) were all that stood in their way; he was sure of it. Well, they would simply have to go.

The Wizard would be handled by either his Animal allies or the goblin army or very likely his own Press Secretary, if someone didn't eliminate her first. Kynot he wanted his revenge on, but could live without personally settling that particular score if necessary. The Goblin King, on the other hand, was another matter entirely. This had all begun with him. Any traces of devotion that he had once held for his master had long since melted, leaving only a deep, mind-consuming, burning hatred; a hatred that had truly begun many years ago after that bungled capture which had seen Rhonaraye, and _not_ the Eagle general, in the dungeon chambers of the King's underground stronghold…

_/ Flashback/_

"_WHERE IS SHE?" Tristan boomed, the large doors opening with an audible bang to admit him to his master's throne room. The Goblin King was sitting on his gilded chair, a massive blob juxtaposed against his emaciated subjects. He looked up from his goblet to see the young man thundering up to him. _

"_Ahh, my boy! You have returned!" the large warty green man sneered._

"_**WHERE IS SHE**__?" Tristan roared, his hands fisting in his master's robes. The King didn't look worried though. He smirked, toad-like. _

"_She's in the dungeons, of course. Where did you expect?"_

"_We made a deal!" Tristan growled, his knuckles turning white. The King's leer turned even crueler and he snapped his fingers. Tristan's hands jerked away from his master's throat and he staggered backwards in fury._

"_The deal was that you do you your job and I wouldn't kill her. I haven't. But I really should. She's cost me my Vizier. All it would take is one command from me. It honestly wouldn't take much effort at this point. What do you think, Tristan?"_

_The handsome young man felt the blood drain from his face as the threat struck him like a blow. The only woman he had ever loved? The only person who had ever truly loved him? He couldn't! _

"_No…" he gasped "NO!"_

"_She does seem to put dangerous ideas in your head…" the King remarked, watching his pet Mage shake his head in horror._

"_No!" he insisted "No…you can't…"_

"_I can."_

"_I'll…I'll do anything, anything!" Tristan begged as he fell to one knee in subjugation._

"_Honestly, why didn't you ever just __**take**__ her if you want her so badly? She can't exactly put up a fight right now, sate yourself."_

_Tristan felt his stomach lurch and his blood boil at such a suggestion. However, he also knew it to be a threat._

"_Stop it! Please! I'll…__I'll give you my power!" The Mage pleaded. His master laughed. _

"_I have that already, my dear boy. I can draw from you when I want." The King said_

_Tristan __had never felt such hate. He stood from his kneel slowly._

"_Not anymore." He said darkly. To his further rage he watched a smirk spread across the Goblin king's face as he rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively_

"_Out of my presence, boy. I'll deal with you later." _

_At that moment the mage decided that he wanted to see the Goblin dead. However, he had other priorities at that moment. He didn't care about permission. No one could stop him! As a matter of fact he would enjoy their attempts._

_Tristan swept through the underground stronghold to the dungeons, __indiscriminately igniting anyone in his way. When he reached the dungeons he seized the warden by the neck and slammed him against a stalagmite. He quickly got the information he wanted and rushed down a tunnel. When he was nearly there a scream of utter agony ripped through the air, cutting right into him as though he had received the injury personally. Clutching his staff, the Mage blew up the obstacle that blocked his path. _

_Inside the now door-less room, two golem-like creatures looked up, each gripping a rather frightening instrument. The echo of the scream still hung in the air. Tristan looked from them to the limp, bloody pulp suspended from her wrists by the iron chains that led up to the ceiling. Her scarlet hair clung to her face, glistening with blood. _

_The Mage looked back at the young woman's attackers. In one split instant he could see that they knew their fate. The next moment he screamed with pure rage, letting them both experience the full force of his wrath. He didn't spend much time on them and kicked their remains out of his way as he threw himself over to the prisoner, his staff clattering to the floor as he gently but urgently took her face into his hands. _

"_Raye— Nari, can you hear me? Raye, answer me please…" he whispered frantically. She was a mess. Her breathing was labored and heavy. He brushed hair out of her eyes before glancing at the manacles around her pale wrists. In a frenzy he seized a chain in each hand and flooded them with his power, accelerating the rusting process until the links on both disintegrated. The mage moved quickly to catch the prisoner as she fell. A moan of pain escaped her cracked lips at the pain the movement and impact on her battered body as she fell against him. _

_Tristan slowly knelt down, lowering her to the floor as gently as he could whilst carefully redistributing her weight so that he was cradling her shoulders tenderly with one arm. His other hand trembling slightly with rage, horror and grief, he gently made to cup her face, his palm just lightly touching the bloodied side of her face. Half-lidded, pain-glazed silver eyes struggled to focus on him._

"_Tris…Tristan?" she whimpered weakly, her trembling, mangled, blood-soaked right hand reaching for his face. He held it with his own, not caring about the mess. _

"_Shh, shhh…It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here." Tristan told her. He clutched her to him as gently as he could and kissed her forehead tenderly as he looped his free arm under her legs, lifting her in one swift motion. She clutched the collar of his robe as he started to walk out, trying to move as swiftly as he could without jostling her. He picked up the pace when she lost consciousness. _

_The Mage had walked out of the dungeon with her cradled in his arms. In his wake there was total destruction. On his way out of the underground prison the Goblin King watched him from afar. Tristan had stopped, turned, and looked directly at his master with a gaze that would burn most people to ashes before he continued walking to where he knew the King kept his enchanted carpets. _

_He had hurried to the one place he __**knew**__ was safe for her; The Bear Akota's clinic. It had been snowing when he had nearly collapsed in the doorway, huddling around her to try and shelter her broken, battered body as best he could from the snow as he banged on the door. Dr. Akota had opened it and looked down to see Tristan clutching a bruised and bloodied mess that vaguely resembled a human being with a discolored head of scarlet hair resting against his chest. Tristan didn't know if the Bear knew about what had happened yet, about Tristan's choice._

"_Please!" he had begged "Please, help!" _

/End Of Flashback/

The Bear had been true to form. Akota hadn't hesitated in attending to his red-haired friend, working tirelessly through the night and then the morning to save her. Even after he had finished sewing her back together and stemming the internal bleeding she had been fighting for her life.

The Rebellion had been true to form as well. Dr. Akota had told them where to find Tristan and they had come quickly. Pathetic fools, they'd tried to either arrest him or kill him. They never would have succeeded, obviously, but he had felt threatened enough that he'd been forced to flee. Being a mage didn't make him immune to blades or claws, after all. He had been forced to flee before he even knew if Rhonaraye would ever wake again.

That had been a mistake. He'd allowed them to chase him away and then proceed to move her (in direct violation of Dr. Akota's wishes by all accounts). By the time he had found her again she'd been poisoned against him. She'd never given him a chance to explain and had turned him into her enemy.

He'd gone through a stage of fury, of course. After it became clear that Rhonaraye would make no move to even _think_ about the possibility that there might be more to the story he had even gone through a period where he resented her. He had risked everything for her and she repaid him with scorn and rejection! After the incident with her brother he had even turned his grief and rejection into a murderous fury. Thankfully she was very much a match for him and he hadn't done anything he would forever regret during those moments early on in the war where he had genuinely wanted to kill her. He had found out long ago that he could never do such a thing. Xorthion doubted that he would survive such an event himself; he didn't know that he could live in a world where Rhonaraye no longer existed.

But now…now he wanted to see his _master_ suffer. He kept his darkest desire unvoiced, though, and bided his time. Now, with this one colossal spell tucked away for imminent use, revenge for his stolen life and ruined love was within his grasp.

The Mage contemplated all this as he started walking down the corridor to meet with his Master and their own war council, which was considerably smaller than their Ozian counterparts. This had its benefits and its drawbacks; they made decisions quicker but their tactics were far more casualty heavy. Then again, that wasn't a big problem for the Goblin King, his master.

His master. The only father figure, the only mentor he had ever known. He had returned to him following Rhonaraye's initial rejection, though he had somehow managed to avoid a re-binding. Perhaps the King didn't dare risk it; perhaps he didn't know it was needed or even how to do it without his magic vizier; perhaps the lingering traces of their old magical shackle were enough for him. Xorthion didn't know and didn't particularly care.

The group assembled was not one that the Mage cared for. The small-minded, power-hungry, petty, little, bitter men were already talking. Apparently the king had not deemed it necessary to wait for him. The fools. They would see. They would all pay. No one would ever order him around or shirk him ever again.

The rebellion would be brought to task too, of course. Oh, Xorthion wasn't swapping sides on this metaphorical game board. Oh no. He was removing himself from the equation entirely; this game was all his and by the time the imbeciles discovered that they were even playing it he would be the victor. Neither side would win this war. _He_ would. And once he was finished, Oz would never be the same again. The time of these petty political fools was over. It was time for a new regime.

Of course, Xorthion said nothing of this as he took his seat and regarded the members present. There were a few turncoats, members of the Animal rebellion that had chafed at the idea of working with humans, especially the orchestrator of their race's torment. Then there were a few Gillikins, the occasional munchkinlander, that sort of thing. The most influential and famous of these traitors, however, were the Tin Man and the absent member whose vacant chair was a disdainful reminder of the man's arrogance.

It was almost funny. When one came down to it, this war had little to do with borders or treasure and everything to do with failed romance. Firstly and chiefly there was the Goblin King and Morrible. No one but the two of them really knew their story— only that they had grown up together and once been rather…close, up until an instant in which the King had fled and the current Ozian Press Secretary had made a hasty engagement (which hadn't lasted). The Mage knew that his master's feelings towards the toady woman were a strange and passionate mixture of lust, obsession, hate and possibly even a measure of love. However, they spent so much time trying to make each other miserable that no one was really sure of that last part.

Then there was the former Munchkin, Boq. He truly _was_ heartless, but Xorthion doubted it had anything to do with his rusting silver body. The spell that had placed him in his current form had been nothing more than the straw to break the camel's back. Chuffery was the really unsettling one. To sum him up, he was a woman-hater. His raison detre was to extract revenge on his battered wife for "abandoning" and "betraying" him. On his own personal hit-list in addition to Glinda was the "whore's lover" and the "unnatural green freak" who blocked him from exercising his "rights and natural authority over the lower, baser, inferior creature" that he considered his wife (and all those who shared her gender) to be. The man was a raving lunatic.

Unfortunately, he was also the prime topic of conversation. Thanks to his considerable wealth, he was a rather valuable prisoner that they wanted to get back. They themselves had no valuable prisoners at the moment. Both the Wizard and Morrible had evaded their grasp, so it would be a point of pride to relieve the rebellion of what was undoubtedly a difficult prisoner. Xorthion didn't see what the big deal was. So far as he could see the Ozians were welcome to him. But his opinion didn't seem to be one that was widely shared.

Nevertheless, he sat through the discussion and listened to the plans outlined. He had to admit, there were some very intelligent people among their strategists. It helped that they had spies which were well planted. He even got to throw in a suggestion or two that would benefit his plans in the long run.

In the end he had laid his own plans in his head that worked perfectly with the assignment he was taking to disguise said plans.

He wondered what his master's dear old flame would have to say to him.

88888888888888

Fiyero and Elphaba were stunned when they were shown the information. They were all assembled in Princess Nastoya's chambers. Well, all except one. Rhonaraye had not yet returned. It concerned them a little, but didn't exactly make them frantic. Sometimes she was simply like that and since Liir's first major vision (when he had shut her out) she had taken to keeping secrets from her twin again out of spite.

"I don't know," Elphaba said uncertainly as she looked at the paper "It seems too easy."

"I wouldn't call years of trying easy." Fiyero remarked. His lover shook her head

"We haven't been looking for the Fountain for years, just for a way to reverse the effects of the spell." She reminded him.

"It was your suggestion that we followed, looking through the records." Candle said

"I-I th-think this cou-ou-ould be i-it." Dr. Dillamond said as he hobbled forward. The green woman stepped forward to lead the old Goat to a chair. He sat down shakily, his movement severely impaired by this time. His former pupil smiled and put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. The Scarecrow looked around at them pensively before shaking his head and saying.

"Even if it is by some small chance the actual fountain, do we really have _time_ to go?"

"Yes." someone cut in from the doorway. They turned to see Rhonaraye walking in. It was an annoying habit she had, eavesdropping and then just sort of walking into a conversation. She ignored the look her brother gave her.

"Go. You two have been waiting for long enough for this! Mother, I can handle your post back here while you check it out. You should have time to get there and back before Liir's vision."

"Rhona-Raye," Fiyero began

"Farro, what do you think you'd do in a battle as a scarecrow?" The redhead cut in sharply "All it would take for that psychotic rust bucket to take you away forever is a lit match!"

The others were all taken aback by this outburst. It was unusual for the Mage to be quite that rude with her father. However, before they could recover from their surprise, the redhead gave them all a strange sort of angry look before whetting her lips and regaining composure

"I'm sorry." She said shortly, but sincerely "Look…you two have waited long enough. You've always put this to the side in order to do your duty to Oz. Take the trip. Liir and I can cover things on this end while you're gone, right brother?"

Liir's eyes narrowed as he looked at his sister, wondering what exactly was going on. After a few moments though, he nodded. They all looked to Nastoya for permission. The She-Elephant considered them and then nodded once.

88888888

A few hours later Liir made his way to his sister's quarters to tell her that their parents were leaving imminently. Her door was open, or at least it opened for him. He walked in to see Zach sitting on the carpet by the fireplace doodling. The little Mule didn't even look up to tell him that she was in her workroom. The young man smiled and ruffled his forelock fondly on his way to his sister's room.

Again, the door opened when he turned the lock, but this time he felt as though he were interrupting something. Rhonaraye was standing in front of the full-length mirror in her room, saying something to her reflection.

"…that I —no." she muttered to herself before taking a deep breath and apparently starting again. "It's just that I'm really…what I'm trying to say is—no, that's not right either. Okay…" Killyjoy was scratching ardently at a spot behind his ear while she was doing this. When the young man entered he jumped up and trotted over to him, demanding attention. The sound caught the young mage's attention. She whipped around and smiled at him.

"I'm coming." She told him. As she passed her table she closed the grimmerie that had been lying open on it with a thud. The twins walked back out to her living room.

"Zach, do you want to say goodbye to Uncle Farro and Aunt Elphie?" she asked. The Mule looked up at her sullenly. Raye rolled her eyes

"Zach, getting grounded had nothing to do with them and everything to do with the fact that you didn't do any of your homework and then told me that you did. Both Uncle Farro and Aunt Elphie—"

"Love me." Zach finished "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. They'll be back."

Rhonaraye opened her mouth as though to argue and then seemed to change her mind.

"You know what? Forget it. Stay here and sulk. I'll be back in 10 minutes and then I want to see that Life Sciences assignment, got it?"

The Mule snorted a sulky 'yes' and the twins departed.

"So." Liir said as they started walking "Zach's having trouble at school."

The redhead sighed and nodded.

"He's so smart. But apparently he's been mouthing off to his teachers, not doing assignments... he's frequently late—which is usually my fault in the morning. I don't know. Everyone's telling me that he's trying to get attention but _I_ don't know what to do with him! I asked him if his homework was done and he'd told me it was!"

"Did you think of, I don't know, checking it?" Liir offered

"No, okay? I didn't. It never occurred to me that he wouldn't do it! _I_ always had it done!"

"He's not you, Nari."

"Why would he be? I had nothing to do with his birth. But that's not the point. Doesn't he realize how lucky he is? His parents never got to go to school. When I remind him of that he gets mad."

"He's pissed!" Liir said with a shrug "I never liked being told how lucky I was when I was growing up. Kind'a resented mother for it actually."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Raye laughed as they rounded a corner. At that moment her expression became grave again and she stopped, causing her brother to pause as well.

"Liir, Zach's parent's—for reasons I will never know or understand—left him to me. If something happens to me, who should I leave him with?" she asked, searching his face for the answer to the question that was so clearly plaguing her. Liir opened and closed his mouth several times, at a loss for words.

"Would _you_ take him?" she asked urgently when he didn't reply. He blinked, taken aback at the request.

"Are you planning on going somewhere?" he asked. This time it was Raye who looked taken aback.

"I-I didn't say that!" she said, just a little too quickly, "Look, I'd make sure Candle was looked after if anything happened to you!"

Liir considered this a moment

"Okay," he said "Fair enough. I promise to make sure that Zach will be looked after if, Lurline forbid, something were to happen to you."

In a swift motion that took Liir by surprise his sister threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear "I couldn't ask for a better brother."

"Nari, are you alright?" he asked when they pulled apart.

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly as they continued heading towards the tower take-off point that their parents were going to be leaving from via broom. They were both there, apparently talking to each other. Elphaba was fastening her heavy black cape around her neck and smoothing out the front of her dress in agitation. Fiyercrow was securely tying a string around the edge of his sleeve to minimize the loss of straw when they were flying. The pair looked up when their children arrived.

"Liir, Rhonaraye." Elphaba said. She seemed nervous. Liir smiled and strolled over to kiss his mother on the cheek

"Good luck, Mother." He said, knowing how much this meant to her. He turned to his Scarecrow-shaped father "So, with a little luck we might get to see just how much we actually look alike, huh?"

Fiyercrow through back his burlap-sack head and laughed, clapping his son on the shoulder. Elphaba also smiled at watching the moment only to catch the eye of the young woman in front of her. Rhonaraye stepped toward the green woman hesitantly.

"I just wanted to tell you that," she began before pausing slightly and apparently reconsidering what she was going to say "When I was a kid I always imagined meeting you, doing things with you, learning from you, even arguing with you. Just like the kids in the village did with their mothers. I had this amazing picture in my head of what you would have been like and who you were."

"I'll bet it wasn't quite what you got." Elphaba said sadly as she looked around uncomfortably

"No." Rhonaraye agreed, making her mother look back at her with insecurity written all over her expression. Her daughter shook her head "It didn't do you justice."

Rhonaraye leaned in slowly putting her arms around the green woman's shoulders briefly. After an initial moment of shock Elphaba held her daughter to her in a way that she had never been able to do before. Liir and Fiyero realized that this was the first time the mother and daughter had ever actually hugged. Elphaba had never even held Rhonaraye as a baby. They pulled apart.

"I love you, mamma." The redhead said before turning to the Scarecrow. She was grinning, but Liir could see that her eyes were shimmering "I'm going to miss you."

Fiyero shrugged and reached out to stroke her hair.

"I'll be back." He said with a shrug "Like you said, we should be able to get back soon." His daughter smiled and shook her head again

"No." she said "You'll come back as Fiyero, not Fiyercrow. I think this is goodbye for Farro."

"I'll still be the same person."

"Let me say it anyway." Raye said. The scarecrow frowned slightly but then shrugged.

"Alright." He said after a pause. The Mage gave a short sigh and regarded him for a long moment before finally saying in a quiet but steady voice

"Goodbye."

* * *

Alright, there we have another chapter. Please review. Here are the answers to my anonymous reviewers.

FriFro: The movie is pretty cool, I do enjoy it :) I'm glad you're starting to like my OC. Question though, is her being complicated a good or bad thing? More Elphie and Fiyero in upcoming chapters, promise!

() : Yeah, it was really awkward, hence the change. Glad you liked it! Fountain Of Youth is quickly approaching as you can see...;)


	37. Part 3 Chapter 8

_**ANND I'M ALIVE! **_

_**Alright, my finals are done and I have a brief period of total freedom! This means that I have finally had the time to get back to this and have a nice long chapter for you with something included that has been much requested...**_

_**Please reward this update with reviews!**_

_**P.S If I didn't get back to anyone from the last chapter I am so terribly sorry! As you've gathered, I was completely swamped, my appologies.**_

**Part 3 Chapter 8**

Liir had been expecting turmoil and a spike in his own personal stress levels with his mother's responsibilities divvied up between him and his sister, but was pleasantly surprised to find that two days after his parents' departure everything seemed to be running smoothly. If anything it was almost peaceful. Liir and Candle had been able to spend some time together. They'd even managed to sneak away to their favorite courtyard for a picnic only to find that they weren't the only one who'd had such an idea.

"Hey, isn't that Zach and your sister?" Candle asked as they made their way to the broken down fountain. The redhead and the rapidly growing Mule Colt were chasing each other around, clearly having a ball and laughing a great deal.

"Isn't it a school day?" Candle asked. Lirr frowned slightly and nodded, perplexed.

"Yeah, it is." He said. Just then Rhonaraye and Zack looked up to see them. They didn't look as though they'd been caught in anything and instead smiled at the couple, though they didn't invite them over. Liir caught his sister's eye and then it dawned on him. He smiled and nodded, a smile that she returned. Candle noticed this exchange.

"Did she tell you?" The Quadling asked. Her boyfriend shook his head.

"Not telepathically, no. But I think I know why anyway. She hasn't been spending enough time with him and she knows that. And we all know the problems he's been having in school."

"He's at that…awkward age." Candle supplied

"It doesn't help that she's practically an absentee parent." Liir said

"That's not her fault." His girlfriend chided.

"I didn't say it was." Liir said, "But it's true, and moreover it's what she thinks. She feels terrible about it. Anyway, let's leave them to themselves for a bit. Besides, I wouldn't mind some alone time together." The young man smiled as Candle slipped his hand into hers. They found a nice spot under a large oak tree and settled down for their picnic. For a while they merely reclined back against a smooth, wedge-shaped rock and nibbled the fruit and bread they'd brought in comfortable silence. However, after a while said silence became decidedly less comfortable as Liir began to fidget and clear his throat. After what seemed like an eternity of this he finally came out with it.

"Candle," he said hesitantly. She cocked her head and looked at him evenly. He cleared his throat again "Candle, you know that they've been talking about an evacuation, right? I don't suppose that you'd signed up for the nurse's contingent, did you?"

The nurse stiffened and sat up slowly.

"No." she said quietly, now suspicious "Why?"

Liir looked down at his cup of water and sloshed the liquid around in it to avoid looking at her.

"I think you should." He said.

"And leave Doctor Akota on his own? Liir, I'm the most experienced nurse on my team and I'm the only one whose worked with Doctor Akota so extensively. I can't."

"Candle, please, will you go with the children and patients to the safe place?" he snapped desperately. She recoiled slightly at the tone, though nowhere near as much as she would have a few years previously. He deflated slightly with guilt at her reaction. After a moment it was the Quadling who spoke again.

"Liir, I'm a field nurse. Not only that, but I have a _team_ of nurses now too. We're needed here, with Dr. Akota and the other medics. I can't leave them."

"It's going to be dangerous Candle-"

"For you, too. I don't want to spend weeks worrying whether or not you survived and just find some body or worse, a grave with your na-"

"AND I DON'T WANT TO FIND YOU DEAD!" he practically yelled, instantly furious at himself. He jumped to his feet and took a few steps forward, his back to her so that she wouldn't see the naked fear in his face. He scrunched his eyes closed and covered his face with his hand as the images of his vision flashed before him

"I dream of it all the time." He said in a quiet, grave voice, "My nightmares are always about you getting hurt or worse!" he turned back toward her and went down to his knees to cup her face gently, "Because I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you and I could have stopped it, if I could have protected you! I know someone hurt you before, and I wish that I'd known you and could have protected you then. So please, please let me do so now. I can't…I can't lose you," he begged her. For several moments the two just stared at each other. Finally Candle's hand covered his,

"But Liir, something could happen to me _anyway_. I'm not as brave as you seem to think. If a bomb goes off I cower, I don't run into it. But I _do_ provide care to those who are injured, and sometimes just pressing a pad to an open wound can save a man's life! I've never been good at much else but medicine and music. Dr. Akota will look after me. Besides, I need to know where you are too because I don't know what I'd do without you." She said as her hand moved from his to stroke his cheek. In a swift movement he crushed her to him, clinging to her as though she might disappear from his life forever then and there. She let him hold her and even returned the embrace tentatively. She could hear his heartbeat pounding against his chest under her ear and frowned and how terrified this had made him.

Liir felt like he was trapped on a run-away cart spiraling out of control. He couldn't lose Candle, he refused to! He'd seen what losing the one you loved had done to his mother and since seeing her emotional transformation upon reuniting with Fiyero he had the full impact of how unhappy she had been during his childhood. He couldn't live like that, he couldn't become a shadow of his former self. For one thing, he didn't have the potent fire to start with that Elphaba had reportedly had.

Then again, his vision was still unclear. He didn't know who the woman was that was dead, just that she was important to him. It could be Glinda! Or his mother—What the hell was _wrong_ with him? He didn't want any of them dead! In that instant he realized that he had just opened up another window for fate's cruelty.

**8888888888888**

"Fiyero, are you alright?" Elphaba asked as the Scarecrow tightened his grip around her waist. She had her hand on the bag of straw she'd brought along (if necessary) out even as she asked this.

"What? Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what?" the Green sorceress asked as they caught a gentle thermal. Her lover shrugged.

"Just what I'm going to do once I'm…er, back to the way I was before. I'm going to have a lot to explain to my parents." He said, "Mainly why I didn't tell them that I was alive. I know I would be furious at Rhonaraye if she pulled a stunt like that."

Elphaba smiled fondly as she nodded in agreement.

"I know I would kill Liir if he hid the fact that he had survived something like that without telling me, figuratively speaking obviously. And you know that I never agreed with you on that thing with your parents. Wait till they see you as yourself!" she exclaimed excitedly, looking back to grin at him.

"Yes." he agreed. Just before the two of them had departed on their little mission he remembered his daughter coming to see him off. He particularly thought about the way she'd insisted on saying goodbye, something which had been bugging him for some reason. It had just seemed so…definitive.

His daughter had always been…unique. Just like her mother. A lot of it probably had to do with her unconventional upbringing. She hadn't been well socialized as a child, living in so isolated an area and then there had been the pressure that Rebels had placed on her. The turbulent adolescence that followed with its botched spy-mission and the subsequent separation from the ones who had loved her unconditionally and the rejection of the organization she had been so desperate to please had left its mark on her personality; the result was a reclusive, mistrustful and at times repressed young woman.

Then there was Liir.

He had missed so much with his son. Like his lover and their daughter, he had been slowly building a relationship but it was nothing like the one he'd had with his father. Though in retrospect, that wasn't a bad thing. The young man seemed open, even eager to having a father but one couldn't replace the years lost.

Fiyero was so lost in thoughts of his children that he at first didn't hear when Elphaba asked him a question.

"Fiyero? Did you hear me?" she demanded when he didn't respond. He shook his head slightly and returned his attention to the green woman.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked why you never wanted to see your parents. I know you've given me "reasons", but I know they aren't the real ones." Elphaba repeated. The Scarecrow was silent for a long while as he thought this over. Finally he said,

"It's…complicated. My parents and I never really got along. When I was a kid it was about stupid things, but they're also very conservative, conventional and critical. They don't like to accept anything new or different. I'm happy with my family and I don't want them butting in with their two cents' worth and most of all I won't have them belittling you."

"You're parents have been very courteous to me." Elphaba informed him

"Because they think the worst of me and you're the mother of their grandchildren. The moment they realize that I was an am serious about you their tone will change and they'll be trying to foist someone like that Sarima ninny on me again. This way I'm free and the Vinkus will still be cared for even if Ijiri won't take it. Now there's Liir."

The green woman frowned at this and banked to a stop in mid air so that she could look over her shoulder at him for more than a brief glance

"What makes you think that Liir wants the throne any more than you do?" She asked him. Elphaba knew their eldest child well and she knew that whatever his thoughts had been as the spoiled heir of the Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz, his tastes had changed a great deal in recent years. Fiyero didn't respond, which she took as her answer.

"Fiyero, I learned the hard way that you can't run forever." She said as she turned back and leaned forward so that the broom began to fly again "Fiyero, I love you and I always will love you, no matter what. But one day you have to face your family and your people. Take it from someone who knows and do it before it's too late."

**8888888888888888**

Morrible sat in her old headmistress' chambers at Shiz, surrounded by the numerous trophies and ornaments she had been awarded or arranged to be awarded over the course of her career. The University graciously yielded to her every demand and its location away from the occupied Emerald City was idyllic.

The Carp-like woman pursed her fishy lips as she wrote her letter with a long Peacock quill, signing it with a flourish. She straightened, folded up the parchment primly and slid it into an envelope. She then picked up the hideous orange-and-pink candle on the desk next to her and dripped some of the wax onto the parchment, stamping one of the many gaudy rings on her pudgy fingers into the pink-and-orange swirl to seal it.

"Take this to your master, won't you? There's a good boy." She said without turning around as she held the letter up. She waited a full minute before turning around in her seat and squinting into the shadows

"Oh don't be so melotheatrical! I know you're behind the bookcase, I do run a ring of _spies_, you know."

There was a slight sound of a boot clicking with purposeful sound as the shadow-lurker walked into the light, a long coat flaring ever so slightly around dark boots.

"You're loosing your touch, Morrible." Rhonaraye stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Her long red hair was confined to a slightly disheveled French braid which was draped over her shoulder.

"I knew you were there." The Carp-like woman claimed with a leer.

"Only because I didn't care if you did." The Mage counter-claimed in retort. Whether or not this was true was debatable but could not be proved either way "Besides, you still guessed my identity incorrectly."

"Why are _you_ here?" Morrible demanded sulkily as the young woman strolled around the room, running one long finger along the shelf containing a few of many trophies. She noted the increasing size and extravagant (some might even go so far as to say vulgar) designs of the mementoes as the dates on the plaques progressed. She continued her path in silence, drawing out the pause before she finally stopped by a glass case and looked inside.

"I think you planned to put me in there at one time," she said absently before shrugging as she reconsidered her statement "Me or my mother. I think you would have been happy to have Liir on display more if he hadn't been so eager for it in his childhood. He was no fun to collect in those early days, was he?"

"No." Morrible admitted. There was little use for lies anymore. Ironically enough the pair were probably most honest with each other at this point, in spite of their mutual disdain— or perhaps it was because of it. "No, I've always enjoyed the hunt for talent."

"And the capture, no doubt." Raye replied dryly "I think that's your favourite. Bending them to your will. It's the thrill, isn't it? The rush when you know that you've accomplished your goal?"

"Something of that nature, yes."

"Your collection is impressive." The mage said, motioning in a wide sweep of her hand to the array of trophies lining the walls and surfaces. She circled around one that had literally been placed on a large pedestal. Gripping the marble she swung around like a child playing on a pole in a playground "Shame that it means absolutely nothing. These trinkets are worthless. Your true prizes are slipping through your fingers. One. By. One." She counted off the numbers with a tap of her fingers on the surface of the award before running a hand over the shiny surface "That trend started with me, didn't it? Do you hate me for it, I wonder? Oh I know you hate me, but was that what started that satisfying loathing? My resistance to your, shall we say, charms?"

"Yes, alright. It was. Not even your freak of a mother was able to see through me at first. It was all those Animals' fault that I missed out on you, I've no doubt! Oh, you would have been a _jewel_ too! It would have served _him_ right!"

"Yes, it was my guardians. They're not why I came tonight, though." Rhonaraye said as she gracefully straightened and leaned against the wall

"Well?" Morrible demanded impatiently

"I want to know what you meant at the council meeting." The Mage stated "You said that we weren't that different. That I could end up like you. What did you mean? I would have thought that a comparison between us would be as offensive to you as it was to me."

"So would I, actually." A familiar male voice said. Rhonaraye whipped around, wide-eyed.

"Tristan!" She breathed before she could catch herself. She shook her head as though to try and clear that thought from it before refocusing "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, didn't you know? He's here to capture me. Dead or alive, is that it?" Morrible crooned in that mocking way of hers.

"Something of that nature. But I wanted to ask a question first and it isn't as if you're going anywhere."

"Xorthion, you know that I can't let you take her." Rhonaraye said, standing between her former lover and her current, unfortunate, unwanted, thoroughly despised ally.

"I know." Xorthion replied quietly. The two stared at each other for several long moments before Rhonaraye broke off the eye contact uncomfortably. Morrible noticed this with a scoff of impatience.

"Oh _honestly_." She groaned, as if this were a regular occurrence that was getting old. She turned her attention to Xorthion. "So what exactly are your plans? If you're anything like this ungrateful brat—"

"You'll address both her and me with respect, _Madame_." He snapped. She ignored him

"Then you won't be the kind to do your master's bidding so easily." she finished. The pale, iron-robed man straightened and arched an eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact," he said, taking a step forward. Rhonaraye squared her shoulders and tilted her head in a motion that reminded him that she was still intent on blocking his path. He stood down

"No, I gather you're the type to want to be giving the orders."

"There's only going to be one victor in this war." He said, catching Rhonaraye's eye again before adding more quietly "Though I'd like there to be two."

Unfortunately Morrible heard the latter statement. She laughed cruelly.

"Really? And how exactly would you manage that? You may be powerful, but not even a mage like you could overthrow _both_ armies single-handedly. I'd doubt that even the pair of you put together could, though it would be interesting to watch you try."

"I think you underestimate me."

"Not by that much." The Press Secretary said dismissively. Rhonaraye, who'd had a great deal of experience with Morrible by now, felt her guard shoot up at this and she pivoted slightly to look at the weather-witch, her eyes narrowed. The older woman was digging, worming the male mage into a verbal trap.

"Nothing a little Dragon power can't cure." Xorthion retorted. He did not have experience with Morrible, unfortunately; this was their first in-person encounter. The Press Secretary looked mildly impressed, curious and somewhat confused all at the same time.

"Dragon Power?" She asked, a frown creasing her wrinkled, overly made-up face. Suddenly comprehension dawned on her "Surely you don't mean…no. That's a myth, but then again so are you two." Her face brightened further in a manner that Rhonaraye in particular did not like at all; it reminded her of a particularly hungry snake coiling around a particularly fat mouse.

"Ohh, but surely not. To do that you'd need a certain Witch's blood. A witch whose daughter you are currently romancing so poorly."

"It wouldn't require that specific blood." Xorthion replied evenly

"Xorthion, stop." Rhoanraye warned, trying to catch his eye.

"Are you not the least bit concerned that his plan involves potentially harming your mother?" Morrible interjected with curiosity

"He won't touch my mother." The redhead replied coldly. She didn't like how at ease the Press Secretary was. She should be a great deal more nervous with the two most powerful individuals in Oz both in the same room with the same feeling of loathing directed towards her. Instead she just rested her pudgy hand on one of the vulgar fake plants on her shelves.

"No, he won't." Morrible agreed with a rather unnerving little smirk. Suddenly there was a flash of motion and Rhonaraye cried out and stumbled back as the sand from the lime-green pot flew into her eyes. She'd been braced for a magical attack, not a physical one and thus had been unprepared for the moment when the other woman through a fistful of the decorative filler at her face.

"Rhonaraye!" Xorthion yelled in alarm, one arm automatically shooting out to reach for her as she clawed at her burning eyes and stumbled back blindly. Morrible had banked on this and seized her opportunity to send a rush of energy well aimed to send him off balance at which point her Tick Tock, Grommetick, emerged from behind a potted fern-like plant to throw said plant pot into the unbalanced young man, sending him crashing into a bookcase where he cracked his head. It was not a bad enough blow to do any serious damage or even fully knock him out, but it was enough to stun him—another opportunity that the Press Secretary seized to press a button she had had installed recently, one which released the implements that held the bookcase to the wall.

The young man heard the creak and looked up to see the case start to topple. He threw his arm across his face instinctively and tried to roll away. He partially succeeded; only his legs were trapped beneath it. In a motion so swift that he barely had time to react he felt a sharp pain in his hand. He looked over to see a slice across his palm with something pressed to it for a moment. Morrible stepped back quickly before he recovered himself, looking down at him with satisfaction.

A sudden strange hum swept through the room just as Raye finally managed to swipe the stuff off and out of her eyes. She shook her head to clear it and her vision began to focus again. Her eyes widened to see Xorthion pinned to the ground; trapped. The redhead saw him snarl and stretch his hand out threateningly to use his powers…and saw nothing happen. She whipped her head around when something flashed across the corner of her eye to see that a strange, smoke-like, semi-translucent barrier that had expanded across the doorway and windows.

In a flash of panic she tried to use her own abilities to no avail and exchanged a horrified look with Xorthion.

"What did you do?" she demanded. Morrible ignored her and focused on her new captive.

"You didn't really think I'd just leave myself to your tender mercy, now did you?" The Press Secretary crooned as she held out a now pulsating black and red pendent suspended by a chain.

"Like it?" The press secretary asked "You see I've got a little dragon power of my own. This one doesn't require that much to work though, just a little magic blood. Took my spies years to find a trace of it and even then a few people were killed. It was so tragiferous but also very necessary. You see my dear, it creates a sort of magic dampening field. Now that I've activated it, nothing magical will work within the confines of this room. It affects me too, of course but as people have pointed out in the past I don't have quite as much fire as you two do. I do, however, have a great deal more ordinary precautions set in place."

"What do you want with us?" Her captive demanded angrily. He did not appreciate being trapped like this.

"Oh with her, nothing." The Press Secretary said as she looked over at the young redhead with a threatening, leering smile "Feel free to leave, dear. I'm not so foolish as to risk our side's magical defense with your feckless freak of a mother gallivanting around chasing myths. You on the other hand, young man, I can think of a lot to do with _you_. For one thing, I could do with information."

"I'm not doing anything for you and I'm not telling you anything!" He snarled, though his growing fear was evident.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that." The older woman said

"I don't crack." The young man hissed.

"It's true, he won't. Just—I don't know! Just knock him out and we'll take him to the base." Rhonaraye said, a hint of nerves in her tone. The carp-like woman gave her an unnerving look.

"Look my dear, you're welcome to stay and watch."

"I'm telling you, he won't tell you anything!" the younger woman half-pleaded moving forward to lean forward with her hands on the side edge of the desk

"Hmm." Morrible said, regarding her prisoner. "Maybe he won't. I should probably save my efforts, besides I have very good spies to get me the information I want. No, I really would like you to be messenger boy."

"I'm not doing anything for _you_." Xorthion spat. The older woman nodded once.

"I'd have been disappointed if you'd said yes, but it would have been so much better for you if you had. Oh well." She walked over and withdrew a poker from the fireplace, brandishing it in front of them.

"Where would you like this? Somewhere more visible or more painful?"

The trapped mage literally freeze in terror. This was a terrifying and near unprecedented moment in the mage's adult life; he was completely helpless and utterly vulnerable without his powers. Both gold and silver eyes were wide and fixed on the hot poker and the redhead's knuckles whitened as she clutched the edge of the desk.

"St-stay away from me!" Xorthion ordered shakily, his already pale face draining of whatever traces of colour were there.

"What in the seven hells is _wrong_ with you?" Rhonaraye cried, looking at her former would-be teacher with horrified shock.

"Nari…please…help me" The male mage begged as he strained fruitlessly in panic to escape.

"Her? Ha!" Morrible laughed cruelly, making the redhead still and frown at her, silver eyes narrowed slightly in incomprehension at the statement. The Press Secretary looked back at her prey to elaborate

"She won't help you. Even if she did have feelings for you she has a bit of a martyr complex which I'm sure you know all about by now. Inherited from her mother if you ask me. But why am I telling you that? The only way she could have met you would be after she gave up any chance for a comfortable life to free a large group of mine slaves, very few of whom showed their gratitude I'd be willing to wager. She's not a natural killer but she's stacked up quite the body count in the last three years for more of those masses that she so irrationally loves. Oh she hates me of course, and will probably be more venemous from now on but I'm valuable to those creatures she's so loyal to at the moment whereas you pose a much more immediate threat to their survival and liberty. To complete her martyr complex she has no choice but to sacrifice the man she hates herself for loving for their benefit."

"That's…" The man pinned to the ground started, intending to finish with the word 'ridiculous' except that he of all people knew that the corrupt Press Secretary had hit the nail on the head. He glanced over the carp-like woman's shoulder to see the tortured look on the redhead's face as she herself felt the weight of this truth settle in. Just when he'd started to make progress…just when they had started to put their relationship back together…

"I suppose I won't be able to send my letter now, ah well. This will send a message just the same, even if it isn't as polite." Morrible said as she advanced on Xorthion, whipping out a knife from her voluminous sleeve and brandishing the poker. The young man's eye widened in horror as she advanced and looked down at him the way a cat looks at an injured mouse it has cornered.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Xorthion asked in apparent fear as he twisted awkwardly away from Morrible, straining to distance his head from the poker she held in front of her.

"Trying to decide whether to slit your throat _first_, or make my adjustments and _then_ put you out of your misery," The press secretary said

"_**NOOO!**_" someone screamed in anguish from behind Morrible. The fishy woman whipped around to see a blur of red, brown and gold as Rhonaraye rushed forward, seized the closest thing to come to hand and swung it desperately like a club. There was a sickening crunch followed by a thud and a clatter as the Press Secretary crumpled the floor, motionless, her knife and her poker on either side of her, each about a foot away from her pudgy hands. Her wig had shifted, half coming off when she hit the floor; apparently she had been nearly bald. There was a tense silence punctuated only by the shaky, panting breaths of the two mages as they stared at the body. Suddenly a pool of red started to seep out onto the floor.

Xorthion looked from the body to the redhead standing over it. Rhonaraye closed her mouth and quieted her breathing slowly as she stepped around the body coolly to avoid getting the blood on her boots, staring down at it with an unnerving detached calm. She looked up and met his gaze, silver eyes boring into gold, communicating far more than words could ever have.

"You…" he started. She held up her free hand: her four-fingered, gauntleted hand.

"I did nothing that I haven't been doing for the last three years." She said tightly. When he blinked she elaborated in a quieter voice, almost a whisper "I killed to protect those I love."

Xorthion stared at her, unable to look away, though she did to look down at the heavy object in her hand which had become a make-shift weapon. A fine, red eyebrow arched as she read the inscription. She let out a sound halfway between a scoff and a laugh before laughing in a dry, humorless manner twice.

"How very appropriate." The redhead said darkly as she allowed it to fall to the ground. It landed with a clunk and rolled until the plaque's edge stilled the motion so that it was barely a foot from its former owner's body, the light reflecting off the inscription:

_In Recognition For All You've Done_

Xorthion looked from the plaque to the redhead, suddenly immensely guilty for knowing what was happening back at her base whilst she was with him. Saving his life.

"Rhonaraye you need to know…" he began.

"Tristan, don't." She said. He didn't miss the use of his private name. What 'don't' meant was difficult to determine though, for she was no longer fully rejecting _him_ anymore. Just then there was a whirring sound by the desk. The two turned slightly to see the long forgotten Tick Tock Grommetick standing…wheeling (how did one describe that device's upright form?) in the middle of the carpet, ticking and hissing steam in what could be called an accusatory manner. It stared at them for a moment, as though collecting data and then turned and started to whiz out of the room.

It didn't get very far. Without warning Rhonaraye whipped around and kicked the pedestal the trophy had sat upon over so that it fell down on the gizmo that was attempting to make an escape. Grommetick smashed into dozens of pieces, its main "arm" twitching slightly from beneath the stone slightly before stilling.

"No one likes a snitch." The redhead said to it in that same dark tone as she passed the pieces and made her way to the door without looking back. She paused only once at the murky smoke-like barrier at the door that limited the confines of the area that Morrible had cast the magic draining spell before jumping through. Xorthion stiffened and strained his eyes before relaxing in relief to see through the vague, distorted image of the outside corridor that she had indeed stumbled through.

Without a madwoman threatening to torture and murder him the young man was able to slither out from under the bookcase eventually, though his legs were going to be sore the next day. He grimaced as he straightened and looked around to see that the letter Morrible had been so intent on sending to the Goblin King. It was on the floor, half soaked in the writer's blood. It would be nearly impossible to read now. He supposed that he could use a spell to clean it up.

He dropped it back into the pool of blood. Everyone had their mysteries, including him. And much as he hated Morrible, he would leave her hers.

* * *

**Alright then! Horrible Morrible is now dead! I have had a few reviews ask me when she was going to bite the dust and here we have it. **

**So, thoughts? The review button has been feeling so very neglected during this long update dry-spell...**

**Now, **

**frifro: **I love the Billy Elliot movie too!  
Well there was some fiyeraba in there for you, did you like it? There will be some more in the next chapter as well :)

**Please review!**


	38. Part 3 Chapter 9

_**A/N: Alrighty,so...I am very grateful for the 2, wonderful, loyal reviewers who dropped me a line for the last chapter. I would like some more though...**_

_**To prompt you, here's another nice, long chapter. This one is full of action, drama, Fiyeraba and a dash of suspense. Please review!**_

**Part 3 chapter 9**

Liir was in his room when the sound woke him. It was a strange, thumping sound followed by a scuffling. In an instant he was on his feet and fumbling for the pistol he kept in his drawer. Right underneath it was a pocket-sized notebook that he and his sister had done together with Elphaba containing combat spells copied out from both his Grimmerie and his mother's. He gripped one in each hand as he slid out of his room.

His caution was not uncalled for. There were shadows, very un-Animal-like and not particularly human either. He pressed himself to the wall, sliding along it as he tried to think of a way to call for help without attracting their attention. He never figured it out for barely a breath later a small creaking sound was the only warning he received to prompt him to whip around and then jump backwards to avoid the swing of an axe. He landed hard on his behind, his book knocked out of his hand and sliding under a nearby cabinet. He looked back up to see the Tin Man advancing on him, his axe raised over his head. Liir scuttled backwards as he tried to get enough room to stand again even as the metal woodman bore down on him threateningly. he fumbled for the gun he had dropped as the man who had once been the munchkin Boq started to rant, only to see that it had flown off to land several feet in the other direction.

"For nearly two and a half decades I wanted revenge on that woman!" The man of metal hissed as he brought his weapon higher over his head and clutched the handle with both hands "The woman who turned me into _this_! So I served Morrible, even though I wanted to serve the woman that had killed the witch only to find out _20 years later_ that it was _the same person!_ That they were _protecting her_! Well, since I can't find Elphaba, her beloved son will have to do!" He hollered as he brought down his Axe with all his might. Liir's combat training from his brief stint in the Gale Force and his many experiences in battle kicked in and he rolled to the side, missing the deadly blow and managing to use his momentum to get his legs under him again in a crouched position.

The Tin Man snarled over his shoulder at Liir as he struggled to dislodge his axe from the cabinet that Liir's pocket-spell book had slid under. The young man seized his opportunity to dive for his pistol, twisting as his fingers closed on it so that he slid backwards on his back a few feet while looking directly at Boq and firing his pistol, his elbows locked and his aim sure. He fired his weapon multiple times, hitting the metal man with each shot, even when he freed his axe and turned back towards him. He emptied out his pistol and looked in horror to see that Boq was still walking towards him, completely unaffected by the bullets denting his chest. The former munchkin saw his expression and leered, tapping his chest with his fist with a resounding, hollow clang.

"Just one of the many things your family has done to me." He said "Your aunt suffocated and lusted after my heart so your mother took it away from me so that I could never be with my greatest love! Now I'll take Elphaba's greatest treasure away from her!" he raised his axe again. This time Liir kicked before he rolled and toppled the metal man before tearing off in search of a more effective weapon. He barely made it to the next hallway when he had to fend off an attack by a goblin foot soldier. Like most of his brethren, the little green man was undernourished and looked worn and desperate. Liir cried out when he felt sharp little teeth gnash at his forearm and slammed it into the wall. The pinching fingers and pointy teeth both released as the goblin crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Just then the distinct smell of smoke pervaded the young man's nostrils and he suddenly saw why no one had reacted to the intruders so quickly; a fire had been started right in front of the infirmary, it was chaos. Some of the goblin infiltrators had also started attacking. This-this raid or whatever it was had been well planned.

Candle and Doctor Akota were both rushing around barking orders as they tried desperately to save their patients and their workspace.

Suddenly there was a shrill, _loud_ shriek off to the side as Liir started to re-load his pistol. He saw Ijiri fighting off several of the higher ranking (indicated as such by the fact that they looked better fed) goblin stealth attackers. The Prince was doing quite well; he had Glinda at his back and her back to a wall so that no one could sneak up on them as he fought. His nephew started to run towards them, firing as he went. However, he didn't make it very far.

"LIIR WATCH OUT!" A familiar voice shrieked as Candle, who had been trying to put out the fire in the infirmary, saw the glint of metal. Liir whipped around at the sound of her voice just in time to bring his arm up and twist slightly so that the blow the Tin Man sent his way merely sent him flying into the wall instead breaking his neck. Liir had barely recovered from the blow when he cried out and was rounded into the fetal position with a kick delivered to his gut. He felt more blows come down even as he managed to get in a few blows of his own—not that that accomplished anything but making his knuckles ache. There was a sudden blunt pain on the side of his head, heard more shrill screams again and then he knew no more.

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"Fiyero, I think we're here." Elphaba said over her shoulder as they landed. She cracked her neck with a slight grunt after dismounting, messaging the knots in the muscles in that area. After doing that she winced, her hand going to her back. The Scarecrow looked at her with concern, taking the broom to carry it for her as it was one of the few things his straw frame could still manage to carry; one of the downsides to having no musculature or skeleton of which to speak.

The skies hadn't been safe the entire way, particularly since they were planning on keeping their little venture secret. The Witch smiled thinly at him through her aching back. The combination of the cold at the high altitude and the same position held for hours on end had caused her muscles to knot and spasm. She smiled at him and waved it off. He strapped the broom to his back and they tied themselves together to avoid the wind carrying his feather-light (or rather, straw-light) body away whilst they were climbing. For a while they made their vertical trek up the mountain in silence as the pair concentrated mainly on hand and footholds.

Occasionally the scarecrow would glance over at the green witch with a mixture of admiration and concern. Admiration because of the way she continued to keep going with such determination and concern because she so often seemed to forget that unlike him, she was still flesh and blood. He was glad when they found a ledge to rest on. Elphaba wasn't getting any younger after all.

Suddenly something struck him.

"Elphaba," he said "What if…what if I just go back to the way I was before?" His lover looked at him and blinked with mild amusement.

"Um, dearest, that's the whole point." She said as they began climbing again at her silent insistence

"No, I mean…what if I go back to being 24, instead of being in my late forties! I'll be so much younger then you." He exclaimed. She froze.

"Is that really a problem?" she asked, preparing herself for what she felt was almost certain rejection "I was always older then you." She added with a note of desperation. This time it was Fiyero blinked

"Elphaba, I'm not worried about me." He said. He'd seen couples with age differences, most often it was the woman who was younger and the couple weren't given very many problems. However, when it was the male partner who was younger society suddenly decided that age did matter and (as was typical) it was usually the woman who was demonized and dubbed a 'cougar' or worse, a 'hyena'.

Initially Elphaba didn't understand what he was getting at. Then she burst out laughing.

"Oh, you're so funny." She chuckled as they continued climbing.

"Well…it's just, you have so many problems with people already, and I do love you, don't ever imagine that I don't. I just don't want to give people more reason to-"

"Fiyero, right now I'm seeing a scarecrow! One who used to be a man who fathered my children and whom I turned to straw myself! My son is an Oracle and former paparazzi prince and my daughter a mage of legendary power. My skin is Green. I prefer to spend more time with Winged Monkeys then my own race, yourself excluded of course. I am one of the few humans in Oz who still can't stand their beloved wizard despite the fact that he fathered me and that I served as his Vizier for more then two decades. I shut myself up in libraries and towers for days on end and of course, I don't like chocolate. There is nothing that could make me less strange and controversial at this point. So let's just get you back to your old self." She laughed. Her chuckle turned into a cry of surprise as they suddenly pitched into a large hole in the cliff-like hill that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The two of them tumbled and rolled rather unceremoniously and landed in a heap. Elphaba was very careful as she disentangled herself from the scarecrow, worried about him loosing stuffing. She fretted about things like that a lot. Once they were both up and straightened their clothes, the couple looked wildly at their surroundings. They were in some sort of cave riddled with glowing stalagmites.

"Whoa." Fiyero said as the lights changed colours to form beautiful patterns. "They look like the Dancing Lights in the Land of Snow that Rhonaraye told us of."

"Shh." Elphaba shushed, "Do you hear that?" The scarecrow went silent. There was a hollow, rushing sound that echoed off the walls around them.

"Water." The Witch whispered. Indeed it was the sound of running water. They followed it through a series of tunnels lit by the beautiful colours until they came to a large cavern. At the other end of it lay a large, shimmering pool fed by a small waterfall the spouted upwards…like a fountain. The two of them sprinted towards it and noticed the strange writing above where the water was coming from that was also on the rock holding the water in. The Witch examined them with an excitement and said to her companion

"We did it! We found the fountain of youth!" she exclaimed happily. The Scarecrow felt a grin spread across his face, except at that moment a drop splashed over from the surface of the water and landed on Elphaba's arm. She cried out in pain as it burned her skin like fire.

"What is it?" he demanded as he immediately rushed to her side.

"I don't know! It-it burned me! The water burned me! That's never happened before!" she cried, looking at him with eyes that were wide, disbelieving and a little frightened. "Maybe it means that I'm not meant to go near it, not worthy."

"Please don't talk like that." Fiyero begged before continuing, "This might still reverse the spell,"

"Fiyero, what if this isn't what we thought it was? What if it's dangerous?" The Witch asked, more than a little concerned now, her silver eyes wide.

"Elphaba, we've come all this way. We have to at least _try_." The Scarecrow replied.

"Alright, if you want to then go on, try it. But _be careful_." She said. He nodded and leaned in to kiss her, their fingers intertwining. After they pulled apart he turned to look at the fountain and made a gulping sound (he couldn't _actually_ gulp, not having any saliva) and slowly started walking towards the fountain. His gloved hand slid out from his lover's thin green one slowly and reluctantly as he approached the shimmering water. Taking a deep breath he slowly reached out to touch the burlap tip of his middle and index finger to the surface of the pool.

It felt wonderful at first: a tingly sensation. But then in an instant the water shot up to engulf his arm. He cried out in alarm and struggled but the grip of the suddenly strangely viscous liquid was strong as it dragged him back and over the edge. The pool seemed to deepen as it sucked him in and suddenly it didn't feel so amazing anymore. It felt painful. He cried out agony as a whirlpool formed in the water and began to slosh him around.

"Fiyero!" Elphaba cried. Forgetting about the way it had burned her she dove into the water without a second thought and reached out for her lover. For a minute it was utter agony but the pain didn't deter her as she swam against the current of the whirlpool to reach the scarecrow who in turn was stretching out his hand towards her. After what seemed like eternity but what was really only a minute or two her thin green fingers around the cloth hand…a hand which seemed to be becoming oddly more substantial.

Gradually the burning sensation receded and turned to merely the touch of clean, gentle water as she managed to get a better hold of the arm that hand was attached to and then the torso, not registering just how much heavier he felt as she struggled to pull them back to the pool wall. The witch was struggling though. There were no oceans in the mapped territories of Oz and she had never spent much time swimming, which had given rise to the ridiculous rumor that water was fatal to her. The truth was that she had never been that comfortable in baring her emerald skin, something that her father had severely discouraged when she was growing up. Consequently, she wasn't an overly strong swimmer and she felt the water struggling to claim her and her lover. She flailed frantically and managed a final gasp of air before it finally closed over her head.

The next thing Fiyero knew he was lying on a hard, rock floor. It was damp, and his side ached…his side _ached_? He coughed up water and brought a hand to his head—a hand? He flipped it in front of his eyes, looking at his palm and then at the back of his hand. It was then that he realized the weight crushing down on his chest was Elphaba. He cried out her name and sat up, catching her as she slid down his chest. The movement seemed rouse her and she started coughing up water as well. She sat up with his help, first noticing the hands as he had. She looked up into his face and let out a weak 'ha' of amazement as her green fingertips toughed his cheek.

"You…you're you again!" she breathed joyfully as she threw her arms around his neck and breathed in his human scent again for the first time in over two decades. After a moment she pulled back to drink in his renewed appearance. It was then that Fiyero realized that the water had done something to her as well. The lines of age and hardship on her face had smoothed, the few grey strands in her hair had turned jet black and her body had regained its youthful curves.

"Elphaba…you're-you're younger!" He said. She looked at him curiously before looking at her reflection in a puddle. Slowly her fingers moved to her rejuvenated face in disbelief. With one smooth, warm hand her lover turned her head so that she was looking at him again

"We can start over." He whispered.

The two embraced tightly, pulling back only enough to press their lips together. For the first time in years they were soft and warm, not that she had minded the burlap. However, it was beyond heavenly to feel the touch of another human being again. When their lips parted they looked at each other slowly, both feeling a distantly familiar rush that started in the pit of their stomachs. As a scarecrow the former Prince hadn't exactly been able to be anyone's lover in the physical sense. The green woman hadn't complained or been hugely inconvenienced, merely glad that he had been alive and with her, content enough with his company and emotional support. However, _now_…

The prolonged period of celibacy in combination with a renewed surge of hormones with their newly regained youth, only amplified by the fountain's power, meant that they didn't remain upright or clothed for very long.

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Rhonaraye had hoped to slip back into her chambers unnoticed following her experiences with Morrible only to find the place in complete chaos. She had to side step to avoid being barreled into a few times; the place was an absolute mess. Furniture and décor had slashed. It looked like it had been hacked at with an…axe.

With that realization the redhead broke into a run, pushing people out of her way as she made a mad dash for her quarters.

"Zach!" She called desperately as she frantically searched for the Mule, "Zach! ZACH!"

"Aunt Raye?" a small voice peeped from behind a tapestry. The mage whipped around to see the Mule colt peeking out from the heavy ripped cloth. The young woman nearly deflated in relief and fell to one knee to throw her arms around Zach's neck as he emerged with Killyjoy behind him.

"Oh thank Lurline!" she breathed as she held him tightly, breathing in her adoptive son's scent to reassure herself of his presence. She pulled back and looked him over worriedly as Killyjoy tried to lick her face to get her attention "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?"

"He's fine." Someone said from behind her. The redhead looked around to see Liir standing a few feet away. He looked a little beat up with a nasty lump on his head and a black eye, but otherwise alright.

"The better question is, why do you have to ask what happened? _Where were you_?" he demanded, anger rolling off him in an almost tangible way. His twin stood slowly, one hand still resting on the colt's shoulder. She looked at her twin long and hard, the mental barrier still firmly between their minds, not that she needed their connection to feel his anger. She glanced down at the Mule Colt.

"Zach, please go to your room. You're not in trouble, I'll be right there. Killyjoy, go with him," She said quietly. Her charge looked up at her with fear and she ruffled his mane. He nodded and walked to their chambers with the dog at his heels, glancing over his shoulder as he did so. His guardian smiled reassuringly. It was not until the door closed behind the pair that she looked back at Liir.

"What happened?" She asked again in trepidation. Her brother looked thunderous.

"Why do you have to ask that?" He countered again, his fists clenching

"Liir spare me!" she snapped, glaring daggers at him.

"Why? Why should I?" He roared "Where the hell were you? None of this would have happened if you had been here! Instead you abandoned your post and I was caught by surprise when the Tin Man and his cronies did their little raiding party—"

"The Tin Man?" Rhonaraye interrupted incredulously.

"Yeah. He showed up with a couple of hedge-wizards and a Goblin detail todistract and attack us. They went on a rampage but their real target was the prisoners." He told her. He watched as his sister started characteristically pacing in agitation. "They busted Chuffery out and then they took Glinda. Dorothy is gone too."

"How did they get past our perimeters?" the redhead asked in disbelief. "How in the seven hells did they even _find_ us?"

"That's what the council wants to know." Liir replied. "Ijiri is hurt pretty bad, got in the way trying to defend Glinda. Doors were bolted, fires set in very good places to confuse and distract. They set fire to the infirmary too."

The redhead looked up again at that, her eyes wide and her mouth opening slightly in shock. Her brother met her gaze coldly.

"Its like they knew everything that was there." He growled. Suddenly Rhonaraye realized what he was starting to get at.

"What, they think _I_ did this? That I told them where we were?" She demanded, clearly affronted

"People are wondering why you weren't here." He replied

"And what do _you_ think?" The redhead demanded of her brother

"I think you've been hiding things from me again."

"Well you started it!" she snapped

"That's right! I know, I reacted that way once. _To protect you_. Oh and by the way _you_ were the one who was all about that before and you're the one who's continuing it now!" Liir snapped, offended and hurt at this trend "Why am I so untrustworthy to you, huh? What is it about me, about your brother— your _twin— _that you find so devious you can't tell anything to? Huh?" He demanded, taking a few steps towards her. The redhead stopped her pacing and looked

"It's got nothing to do with trust." she said, a little taken aback.

"That's bull and you know it!" her brother growled. She looked at him without a word for several long moments before silently lowering her mental barriers and thrusting the information of her whereabouts at him mercilessly. He tensed with the sudden high-speed slide show of images: Morrible's office, Xorthion appearing, a bookcase falling on the pale, thin mage, Morrible advancing with a poker and a knife before going rigid, a wooden expression frozen on her face before she keeled over, Rhonaraye standing behind her with a bloodied trophy in hand…

"You abandoned your post to settle an old score?" Liir demanded with fury

"No! Pay _attention_ when I send you memories." His twin growled in annoyance. He ground his teeth and concentrated. Unfortunately the correct conclusion didn't prompt a better reaction

"To save _him_? He's the enemy!"

"He's what I want." Rhonaraye whispered back, her eyes started to prick slightly "You have Candle. Farro and mother have each other; even Ralimla and Doctor Akota are starting to get it on. What about me? Why do I have to be the one to die alone? He's the only one I've ever thought about that way and he's the only one who's ever looked at me that way. No one else has and no one else ever will and you _know_ that!"

"Well you picked a great time to start thinking about that kind of thing! Have you seen what happened? Lurline when they hear this it isn't going to help your case."

"You'd tell them? I told you that just now in confidence!" his sister exclaimed

"Oh, so now you trust me?" Liir demanded

"Wait a minute, did you say 'my case'? They're putting me on trial _again?_" she snarled out the last word, her indignation slowly encroaching on her guilt.

Just then Muhlama rounded the corner. There were several long red gashes across her white and black coat but it was her face not her body that looked murderous.

"So." She said, her claws retracting and then sheathing, her way of clenching and unclenching her fists. "You choose now to return? How very convenient."

"Muhlama, I didn't do this!" Rhonaraye exclaimed "You know that!"

"Do I?" The Tigress snapped "Jemssey is dead, Raye. He died in my arms in that fire before I could get him out!"

"Raye, you have to admit that this is not good and it doesn't look good. Glinda is in the hands of her psychotic ex and all her friends are worried. It was your idea for our parents to leave and for us to split the defense. She's barely been gone 3 days and you go running off. The minute you leave someone attacks? Finds the base that's supposed to be hidden so well? You abandoned your post and it turned out to be just when we needed you and you knew that we were spread thin enough when mother _was_ here to help us defend the place!" Liir said in a quiet, grave tone.

"I made a mistake!" Rhonaraye cried, nearly at the point of tears "A big one, yes, probably the worst I've ever made but…everyone makes mistakes! I was stupid, yes but I'm not even 23 years old yet! I had a rash, epically giant lapse in judgment but that doesn't make me a traitor!"

"We didn't say it did—" Liir began in irritation

"Really? Because that's what it sounds like!"

"I'm curious why none of the people you hold dear were badly hurt." The Tigress growled

"I don't believe this." Raye said, shaking her head in denial "You're putting me on trial again? I do everything to please you, I help build bases, I dig trapped soldiers out of mines, I run myself into the ground for you, I kill for you and the first chance you get you go make an example of me!"

"It's not…" Liir started, but trailed off.

"Look at it from our point of view." The Tigress said as she stepped forward "You suggest that your mother leave so that our magical defenses are weak and then you disappear just before a raid. It t'would take _nothing_ for you to turn on us! You cannot deny how dangerous that would be, we have to be careful. It is nothing personal. We have our families and soldiers to think about!" she snapped. The redhead gave her a look of anger and disgust with a healthy heaping of betrayal. Nothing exploded or cracked, she had too much control these days for that to happen but the Mage was very clearly angry.

"You know what? I think this has more to do with keeping me in line more than anything. Tristan's right!" Raye.

That statement made her brother look up with wide eyes and Muhlama bear her teeth slightly.

"What?" her brother asked slowly, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Why am I taking this shit from them? From _you_? Lurline if I were really the traitor do you think I'd leave my son here while the raid was going on? Do you?"

"He's not your son." Muhlama hissed angrily. Rhonaraye didn't flinch at this but her jaw set stubbornly.

"You know what, you're right too. I could destroy any and all of you like that," she snapped her fingers "If I wanted to. I haven't chosen to, I've _never_ wanted to but I _could_."

"They're your friends, Raye." Liir said as he took a step back, suddenly very wary of his sister. The Tiger Princess hissed at the redhead.

"No, they aren't." Rhonaraye replied "Face it, Liir. No one will remember me when I'm dead."

"Now that is just childish, ridiculous and melodramatic!" Liir snapped, at the end of his tether too. He'd had just about enough angst from his twin, had had just about enough of the melodramatic, misunderstood, martyr act. "You're the one people are going to be talking about for generations! About how you could level or build a mountain, summon storms, restore a forest…"

"Those are my powers, Liir. They're a part of me they are not _all_ of me." Rhonaraye replied "People will remember you for your visions and mother for her skin and Farro because he was a talking field ornament for over two decades."

"What's your point?" Muhlama demanded. The redhead looked at her and then back at her twin.

"No one's going to remember what my favourite colour was, what I liked to do or what I liked to eat. What drove me up the wall or what my ordinary flaws were. Of course now that I've been branded a traitor again everyone's going to know me as flawed, hell I might even be elevated to Wicked like our mother was. Maybe further. But you know what? I'm tired of it."

For several long moments there was a tense silence as the twins stared each other down for a moment. Rhonaraye shook her head and started to plow past him. He shot out a restraining hand on her arm that she jerked out of.

"So what are you going to do?" Muhlama spat. It was just then that they noticed in one paw she clutched Jemmesy's necklace. She and the soldier had become quite good friends and his death was clearly smarting. She was looking for someone to blame and had found who that was.

"I'm _not_ going on trial again." Raye said, pointing down the hall in the direction of the council chamber for emphasis. She closed her eyes and the hand she pointed with moved to her forehead whilst her other hand rested on her hip. "Lurline the Gillikins are going to be baying for my blood once news about Morrible gets out." She sighed and leaned against the wall, thumping her head against the cold stone twice.

"Morrible?" The white Tigress asked, not having received the memories the twins were able to swap with each other at will or been told what had happened.

Liir looked at his sister long and hard, feeling torn. Thoughts raced through his mind as he started to pace in agitation this time. Some of the thoughts were his, some his twin's to the point where it was difficult to determine which was which anymore. As a result he wasn't sure which of them thought of the Mule first, though it was Liir who made the thought vocal.

"So what about Zach?" he asked her, stilling his pacing and crossing his arms over his chest. He saw her stiffen and then let out another long sigh. After a pause she pushed away from the wall and straightened. For the first time in his life Liir felt like hitting his sister when she _again_ slammed her walls up against him.

"He's leaving with the evacuation in two days. The arrangements have already been made." She said coolly, looking Liir in the eye. "So you see, I say my goodbyes and then I have nothing left for me here."

Her words struck him like a bucket of cold water and the effect was similar. He was first too stunned to say anything and then felt cold and dismayed.

"..._Nothing_?" he repeated in disbelief. He knew that his sister could be cruel when she wanted to be or, more commonly, when she was forced into a corner, but he didn't want to believe that she could be this hard-hearted.

"You heard me Liir." She said. Turning to look in the direction of her quarters she started walking "If you'll excuse me,"

"I don't think so—" Liir was cut off as a sudden blast of wind sent him and Muhlama stumbling back into the wall before either could lunge forward to block his sister's path. Silver eyes bore into them for a minute but she was careful, nothing escaped her mental barriers.

"It would have been better if you'd remained an only child, Liir. I see that now and I'm sorry. Perhaps it's time to remedy that." She said quietly before looking at her one time friend with an unreadable expression on her face "It would have been better for everyone if I'd never come back to the Rebellion at all. I won't make that mistake again. Now, I'm going to say goodbye to Zach. Call the guards if you want but you know you can't stop me if I decide to leave." With that she marched in to her chambers and closed the door behind her.

Liir didn't move. Neither did Muhlama at first. They sat there, staring at the door.

"They always knew she was dangerous. A ticking time bomb." The Princess said. Slowly the young man looked over at her.

"_That's_ why you come down so hard on her all the time? Because you were _scared_ of her?" he asked. Had they actually been consciously discriminating against his difficult sister the entire time?

"Not _me_." Muhlama snapped "I told you, it is nothing personal! The council, they are the ones. We have been slaves for too long. She is a weapon that was too valuable to let slip. But every cannon can backfire."

"She's a _person_ not a—"

"We are _all_ weapons!" The Tigress snapped "Her, me, you, all of us! Dr. Dillamond and the other cripples are charged with keeping our knowledge and culture alive but those able bodied and gifted are all meant for the fight, we are the tools of war. Until we are no longer slaves it is what we _must_ be! I live with that every day! I sacrifice too and I do it gladly! I see no reason for her to moan about it." She told him. For a while Liir said nothing. They didn't call the guards, though they were tempted. Neither did they leave, however. The redhead emerged from her chambers nearly twenty minutes after she had gone in. She came out alone and looked as though she were ready to cry. When she saw them however her face hardened.

"I'll remind you here and now that Zach is the son of two _Animals_ who martyred themselves for the cause." She said challengingly, threateningly. She leaned forward slightly in an intimidating manner and pointed a long index finger at them "And if I find that anyone has harmed a hair on his body or so much as said a cruel word to him I'll be back and you won't like what will happen. Oh, and leave my dog alone, though I should really say Zach's dog, now. Killyjoy will be remaining here."

Liir felt his heart land somewhere in the pit of his stomach. She was leaving her _familiar_ behind? She couldn't possibly have cracked that much…

"Raye…" he said as she walked down the hall towards a window. With a flourish of her hand her staff materialized and she pointed it at the glass. With a movement of her hands she widened and lengthened the window until it was large enough for her to walk out of and blasted it open with her powers, the shutters clacking against the wind. As she stood on the ledge more people rounded the corner, Kynot among them. The Mage slowed and turned and looked at the Eagle for a moment. The next she turned back towards the night sky and jumped, flying off into the night.

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Glinda awoke with a massive headache. She winced and grunted with discomfort and started to move only to find that she couldn't. Her hands were tied behind her in a most uncomfortable manner. She frowned and squinted, twisting to see the strange, rather painful wire-like rope securing her wrists together and was suddenly wide awake. She gasped, her heart pounding in terror. She took in her surroundings in a rush of panic and still slightly blurred images.

She was in a small, square stone room. It was dank and dark, intimidating. The only sounds punctuating the silence were her shaky, whimpering breaths and the echoing drip of water on the cold rock floor. There were two small torches lit, one right at her left near where she was bound to her chair and one by the door. With her head still throbbing and her senses not fully recovered yet, panic took over and she struggled wildly against her bonds, making a great deal of noise as she whimpered and whined wordlessly. She'd been here before: trapped, terrified, bound so that she'd be unable to escape...she'd thought that those days were forever behind her.

A low, cruel chuckle stilled the blonde's movements. She had thought that she had been frightened before, but now she was too petrified to even move. She knew that chuckle and it was not one she had ever wanted to hear ever again. She started to tremble as someone rose from a chair in the shadows and approached her with a clunking of boots.

"I must say, my dear," Sir Chuffery said smugly as he approached his (ex) wife. He circled her slowly in a manner that dripped with predation. He stood over her intimidatingly, the shadows making him seem taller and more terrifying "It has been far too long. And this time," he slapped the blonde hard across the face. She screamed and he smiled

"You won't be getting away."

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Reviews make me happy and make me want to update faster...hint hint...


	39. Part 3 Chapter 10

_**A/N: I will warn any Dorothy fans reading this (if there are any) that I am not exactly flattering in my portrayal of her. Part of this is because I have tried to watch the Original Wizard of Oz movie a couple of times in the last few years and have ended up rolling on the floor laughing at the Lol**__**lipop Guild and then rolling my eyes and groaning at Dorothy for the rest of the time. It seems that it was popular for female characters who were teenagers (Dorothy portrayed by a teenaged actress {who **_looked_** like a teenager too} and the supposedly 16-year-old cartoon Snow White, for example) to act as though they were about 5 years old in the 1930's or whenever it came out. That is something that grates my nerves. I'm not going to bash people who are fans of Dorothy because a) everyone is entitled to their own opinions and tastes b) Without the 1930's movie there wouldn't be Wicked and c) From what I gather, the original Dorothy in the L.F. Baum books was **_not_** from that most annoying breed of characters: The Damsel in Distress. She's also probably a little OC because, as I've stated, I don't watch the original movie all that much, so sorry about **_**that**_** bit. All that being said though, I don't think I'm entirely unsympathetic to her, just not very (as I said before) flattering….but on to the story!**_

**Part 3 Chapter 10**

During her years in Oz, Dorothy had become accustomed to homesickness. She still hadn't learned how to handle it particularly well, but it was a normal part of her day. Fear had also become a well defined word in her vocabulary. In Kansas she had been a little scared sometimes but she had never really felt terror until that day when the tornado had carried her house away to this strange, colourful land. Every day she longed for her dull, boring, grey Kansas. Everything here was so wrong. Some people had tried to tell her things but she either hadn't understood them or hadn't wanted to understand them or simply hadn't wanted to hear it.

She had liked it when that nice green man had brought her all those presents, but she'd been uncertain and scared too. Then those people had showed up and given her all those gifts. One had looked a little strange but it had let her make everything pretty around her, let her change things the way she wanted for a change; she had even managed to make some of the buildings look like home again. But it had scared her too. Then all those people had come and it had been even scarier. Dorothy hadn't known what to do, she always waited for people to tell her what to do now, (she couldn't remember anymore if she had always been like that or not anymore) but she didn't know who to listen to: the Goblins who had given her the pretty gifts, or the new people?

Eventually the earth-girl had allowed the one with red hair and the nasty scar along her cheek and the ugly hand with fewer fingers than normal to talk her down. It was strange, normally Dorothy listened to a man, or a woman who was old (like Morrible) or very pretty (like Glinda). This one wasn't old and while she wasn't ugly even with her scars, she wasn't lovely either. Her face was handsome rather than beautiful but she had talked nice and soothing. After she had gone with them though, her new room had been so plain, not like her fancy rooms as the Governor of Munchkinland. And the door had been locked. She didn't like that. Then there had been all that yelling and shouting and people screaming and then awful creatures had torn apart her door and carried her off screaming at the top of her lungs.

Now she was in this dark little room with horrible metal things around her wrists. She hated the dark, she'd never liked it. She wanted her Aunty Em! But Aunty Em hadn't been there in a very, very long time. She was cold, too. And uncomfortable. Crouching for so long made her legs and back ache.  
Dorothy jumped with a shriek when the door opened. She cowered in the corner and whimpered until she realized that nothing bad was actually happening to her. She then jumped and shrieked when someone took a hold of her wrists and then realized again that she was not actually being hurt. The earth girl looked up to see a pair of bright, hypnotic golden eyes.

"Hello," The man said in a smooth, low tone that was very calming. "You're Dorothy, aren't you?"  
The woman nodded, her eyes large and round, her mouth pouty and open a little; the very picture of an innocent, mesmerized child permanently and tragically plastered onto the face of a grown woman. The man was very handsome in Dorothy's opinion, even if he did look a little strange. But then, everything looked strange in Oz. His skin was very pale like milk and his eyes like gold, or very ripe corn. His hair was silvered but his face was young with chiseled features and a strong jaw.

One of the cratures who stood guard over her cell walked in and she shrieked, not wanting to look at the hulking goblin with his hard, round arms and spiked armour and large spear. The pale man looked around sharply at the guard.

"That is enough. I can more than handle myself with one frail earth-woman. She's hardly the Scarlet Mage!" he scolded with a touch of annoyance before looking back at Dorothy and adding with a quiet, almost remorseful sigh "And I think this poor thing has been frightened enough."

He held out a hand to her. Slowly, tentatively, without looking away from his eyes she accepted it and rose to her feet. Since coming to Oz she hadn't seen many men, flesh and blood men, whom she had to look up to so that she could see their face. She hadn't met many non-munchkin men at all as a matter of fact and she didn't think that she had looked very closely at any of the men whom she had met before, but this one was very good looking. She followed him with utter trust and compliance, entranced. He was being so very nice.

The pale man smiled at her and she smiled back

"My name is Xorthion." He said before looking around at their dungeon setting in distaste "Would you like to get out of this dark place? There's somewhere with a very nice view and some comfortable chairs for you to sit down in too. I can even have a pretty new dress brought up for you." he offered.

"Oh, would you really do that? Oh That is so kind of you!" Dorothy simpered in her usual manner. The two of them started climbing some stairs until they reached a door. It was lighter, but not painfully so and they continued walking  
until they reached some more stairs with the pale man, Xorthion, apologizing to her the whole way and talking about the place they were in. Apparently it was an old tower, somewhere very important in the strange land of Oz, somewhere old and historic. She had asked him if it was like the liberty bell or Mount Rushmore in her homeland and had explained about them only he had told her it wasn't quite like that.

It got lighter by degrees, which was very nice because it didn't hurt her eyes too much. Finally they reached a small room with carpets and plush chairs. There was even a screen and a beautiful dress hanging over one of the chairs. Even though there was a screen, he still left the room like a gentleman. Dorothy couldn't help but smile to herself as she put the gown on and settled herself down before calling him back. He returned with a tray of delicious looking teas and cookies. Her stomach rumbled something terrible; she had not eaten since she had been captured the day before and she devoured the treats. The pale man watched her with a slight pang of guilt.

"I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience. Had I been made aware of it sooner you would never have been in that cell." He told her. The girl with the brown braids nodded with an awkward smile, her mouth full. She swallowed and made her gratitude verbal and then commented on how much the cookie-things were like Aunty Em's molasses bits. For a while he allowed her to regale him with the stories of her distant homeland patiently. It had been a long time since someone had listened to any of those stories with any attentiveness and she lapped up the quiet attention as she revelled in her homesickness. After she had finally run out of breath he smiled at her.

"You're probably tired of hearing about Kansas, now." She said sheepishly. It was the first time she had said that to anyone. His eyebrows rose and he shook his head.

"No, no not at all." He replied before smiling again. He had such a nice smile, so kind. "But would you like me to tell you a story?"

Dorothy thought about it for a minute.

"Yes, alright!" She said happily. It was so nice to be sitting and talking like this with someone, she had been so lonely those last few years in Munchkinland. Xorthion seemed to consider what he would say for a minute before finally asking,

"What do you know of Oz's history? Its myths? Anything?" he asked. She looked at him blankly.

"I know there was some fairy or something a-and then there was some god or another…but I was always taught that there was only one religion and that was Our Saviour—" he held up a hand to silence her gently. Inwardly Xorthion wondered how anyone could have lived in a place for more than half their life and never learn anything about it. He remembered Rhonaraye mentioning Dorothy and her theory that some combination of trauma and even physical injury from her rather unwilling immigration to Oz had permanently damaged her mind. He was starting to agree with her. He pitied the poor woman.

"Well, one of the old legends of Oz tells of a great dragon," he began. Dorothy gasped.

"Oh, but not a cruel one," he quickly assured her "No, no. You see, according to the legend we owe this mighty creature our very existence! You see, it flew from a great distance at great speeds for a very long time until it was too tired to fly any more.

"Once the dragon was tired it found a cave. A nice, big, warm, dry cave where it could settle down to sleep. It had to take time to settle itself of course, and make sure it was well hidden because when a dragon goes to sleep it can sleep for centuries at a time. When it did go to sleep though, it had the most incredible, spectacular dream."

"It did?" Dorothy asked, enraptured "What did it dream about?"

Xorthion leaned forward to emphasize this incredible point.

"Oz." he said "The dragon dreamed up Oz. From Munchkinland to the Thousand Year grasslands to the vast desert! And after it had dreamed up the landscape, it's subconscious—it's dream mind—thought it was strange that there was no one there. So the animals came. And after a while, the Dragon thought it would be just splendid if they could talk, how very amusing, wouldn't you agree? (_Dorothy laughed in agreement_, _the storyteller grinned_) So the animals started talking and became Animals and humans wandered in about this time. They started to build civilization. Some went to the plains in the West, some to the lush farmland and so on."

"So…you're entire home, your existence is only a dream?" Dorothy asked with perplexed amusement, her face alight at the extravagance of the tale. The mage felt another twang of guilt at her complete and utter childlike trust, but reminded himself of her significance to his plan and his plan's vital importance. So he chuckled with her for a minute and sat back in his own comfortable chair as she giggled with one hand daintily over her mouth.

"Yes, that is how the legend goes." He agreed jovially "However, we've found in the research of magic—"

"We?" Dorothy asked, picking up on that. Xorthion's expression faltered only a moment. He hadn't expected her to pick that up.

"Yes." he said, quickly recovering, "People like me and…the lady Glinda. Good Witches and Wizards and-and academics. For example, we think the Fairy that is worshipped as our creator may have been a very powerful, ingenious, benevolent Sorceress instead."

"So you're saying that there is no dragon?" Dorothy asked. The mage shook his head good naturedly as she took a fancy cup and sipped it with exaggerated daintiness.

"No. I think that there was a dragon, one of the great, powerful ones that have since vanished and left only the small ones in their place. I think it was a powerful dragon that understood the ancient magic. Blood magic."

Dorothy had the sense to stiffen when she heard that. Something about the way his tone changed when he said 'blood magic' made her instinctively wary on some level, but she quickly dismissed it as much as she could and he continued talking

"See, as some cultures evolved and considered themselves above such things they moved away from it. But the ancient magic is deep. It involves balance. Bargaining. If you want something you have to offer something in return."

"Why is it called blood magic?" Dorothy asked. The man seemed to consider this for a moment before he answered

"It isn't always blood. But there are spells which involve a sort of…ritual sacrifice in which blood is used, yes. But sometimes it's also about lineage, usually magical lineage or a bloodline. This power…its almost sentient."

"What does sent-ent mean?" Dorothy asked, confused. She was strangely endearing with her child-like naivety and ignorance. It should be irritating and at times it was, but it also invoked oddly protective feelings as well.

"_Sentient_ means that it has its own mind. It thinks for itself. It knows what it wants." He told her

"But how on earth would you ever know what it wanted?" Dorothy enquired, again enraptured.

"Because sometimes, it tells us." He replied, looking up at her slowly. His eyes were unusual, more so than his love's for his was not an enhancement of any conventional human eye colour. As such they could be hypnotic, mesmerizing; a fact that he was well aware of and knew how to use and use it he did. It was very effective on Dorothy, that was certain.

"Dorothy, I think I can get you home." He said. Her face lit up again in an instant.

"You can?" She cried, practically throwing herself at his knees and wrapping her arms around his calves. "Oh thank you, _thank you_!"

"I think that I can, yes. But before I can do that there are some things that I need to attend to, to prepare the spell you understand." He paused to see that the woman understood. Dorothy looked up at him with those big, trusting doe-eyes and nodded eagerly, her hands clasped together on his knee. He patted them gently and carefully lifted them off his lap so that he could stand, bending down to tell her,

"I have to leave for a while. You need to stay here, don't leave. That way you'll be safe, understand?"

"Oh yes! I'll stay right here!"

"Good. I just want to keep you safe." He reinforced before walking to the door. Almost as an afterthought he added as he opened the door "I'm going to lock this, alright? Just stay in here. There are some books and games in the drawer over there. If you need food all you have to do is ask and someone will send it up the dumbwaiter over there. You'll be alright?"

Again Dorothy nodded eagerly, a hopeful, excited, open-mouthed, somewhat dim smile on her face as he closed the door behind him. He shook his head as he turned the key in the lock. It glowed faintly, sealing it with a spell that would allow only him back in that room. He felt a little guilt at the trickery. Dorothy was apparently oblivious to the fact that she had just been imprisoned once again and that this cage had no means of escape.

Rhonaraye would never have been so easily fooled. Neither would her mother nor even Glinda. They would think for themselves, ask him questions: careful, probing questions that would challenge him and perhaps even out-wit him. It worked well for him that this poor creaturedid not have such faculties but was still somewhat disappointing. There was no challenge. It had been far too easy.

Thoughts of his goal overrode his guilt. This was the only way he and Rhonaraye could be together, not to mention the only way to favourably end the war in his favour, thereby saving thousands, maybe millions. If one potentially 'damaged' (or simply dim-witted) earth-traveller was the price, so be it. Besides, it wouldn't be that bad. The spell wouldn't send her home, obviously. It was, however, also unlikely that the ritual he was planning would kill her, especially with all of his 'targets' having been captured. No, he would only need a small amount of her blood to get what he wanted.

He turned to the goblin soldier standing ready at attention by the door. He looked down at the little green creature.

"Send the signal." He said quietly so that the ecstatic Dorothy (who probably wasn't listening anyway) wouldn't hear. The soldier nodded and trotted off to pass on the order. Everything was falling into place.

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For the first time in a long time, Fiyero slept long and deep. He also could feel the heat from his lover's body as well as her weight, felt the _exchange_ of body heat that seemed to reassure him and send him drifting off right away while still tangled up in his lover's long, slender limbs rather comfortably.

Elphaba was the first of the pair to stir and wasn't in any hurry to wake. She let out a contented sigh and snuggled further into the warm embrace, not wanting to wake up from this dream. She loved the feel of the warm, strong arms around her. Eventually her eyes peeled back and she blinked sleepily, looking around at her surroundings. She sat up slowly, pausing to put a hand to her chest to hold up the scratchy burlap shirt there. She frowned and pulled it away slightly to look at it and then down at the arm across her waist. A very real, fleshy arm. Her eyes moved along the limb to the sleeping face of Fiyero.

The events of the previous day—and night—came flooding back to her and a smile spread across her face slowly. Looking around at the clothes strewn about the cave and overtop of them like blankets, she had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle her elated laughter and bit her lower lip slightly through her grin. She still felt as though she were on a high. She turned slightly to drink in Fiyero's face—his so very human face—as he slept deeply, no doubt catching up after two decades with little more than the occasional catnap. With a contented sigh a green hand went to gently push a lock of hair out of his face. He smiled slightly and stirred in response, prompting the green woman to lean down and brush her lips against his gently. Her loose ebony hair fell forward over her shoulder like a curtain and the pendant that she still wore dangled forward on its chain to softly swing against his neck.

Fiyero smiled drowsily when she pulled back and opened his eyes. He reached up a hand to weave his fingers through Elphaba's hair.

"You're so beautiful," he said, parroting words that they'd both said to each other.

"You don't have to lie to me." She replied, parroting their staple answer. His reply was the standard as well, but it still never felt routine or insincere.

"It's not lying. It's looking at things another way."

Their lips met again and pretty soon their hands were roaming. They had both gone twenty two long years and it seemed that their newly rejuvenated bodies were eager to make up for lost time. They'd thoroughly exhausted themselves the night before, not that either of them had minded.

"Do we really have time for this?" Elphaba chuckled as they came apart for some oxygen.

"I'd say we have a little more time before we have to leave, don't you?" her lover replied before their lips locked again and their tongues began duelling.

It was a while before they started talking about getting up again but eventually Fiyero was helping Elphaba button up the somewhat awkward collar which buttoned at the back.

"Why do you always pick such awkward dresses?" he asked with a slight laugh before announcing with a soft 'there' that he had gotten it. Elphaba shook her head as she picked up the pins which had been so hastily and passionately discarded over the course of the previous night and began putting her hair back into a bun, albeit a messy one.

"They cover up. They're dignified. Which is more than I can say for you!" She told him with a laugh as she tugged playfully at the rag costume he wore. Without all the straw stuffing it was at least two sizes too large for him.

"Dignified, yes. Rigid, also yes." Her lover said playfully and without malice.

They gathered their things and Fiyero quickly moved to carry the somewhat heavy satchel. Elphaba let him, knowing how he was enjoying his returned strength. It most likely wouldn't be up to the standard it had been when he was human before, but it was many times greater than what it had been when he hadn't possessed a skeleton or musculature.

"I'd rather be thought of as rigid or stuffy than…other things." She glanced over at him "Besides you are the only one who has ever wanted to see _any_ of this." She gestured to her whole body. He shook his head and leaned over to kiss her head before she put her hat on.

Together they started making their way out the cave. The weather seemed to have calmed down so they hopped onto the broom right away and took off but didn't go very far. Instead they made their way to the mountain village, hoping to trade for some better clothes for Fiyero.

They found suitable clothes alright. The villagers were more than happy to oblige in return for a few simple spells that the green woman performed for them: simple things like bringing a toy to 'life' for a few hours by making it move on its own and refreshing a few pieces of produce that were edible but a little overripe. Nothing dangerous.

However, they did run into a rather unexpected and (in one person's opinion) unwanted surprise. Sitting in the window of the room to the small, modest village pub which also served as a boarding house and shared storage space for food was a rather familiar face.

The Wizard's.

"How did he get here?" Elphaba hissed. Fiyero touched her arm lightly

"The better question is," he whispered, "Is he alone? And if so,

"Why?" they both said in unison before hurrying up to the old man's room.

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Glinda was shivering with cold and fear, her eyes downcast and staring sightlessly at the floor as her ex-husband circled her. She sat straight and proud, not about to cower before him. Not again, not after her years of freedom and not after she had been shown by Ijiri that she was more than worth any 'trouble' or putting up with any irritating habits. She was crying, she couldn't help that, but it was not with the sobs and whimpers that Chuffery both claimed to hate and actively seemed to garner pleasure from. There was a tense silence punctuated only by the dripping of water in the cell and the former Lord's footfalls as he strutted around arrogantly, lording his pettily gained authority over his captive.

Every few minutes the silence between them would ended when he started off on another smug rant about his glorious plans and his superiority and of course, her innumerable flaws topped off with her betrayal and ingratitude. These words were frequently punctuated by a slap or kick but the Blonde did not scream again after that first blow. He was starting to go on like this again when she cut him off

"What did you do to Ijiri?" She cut in without looking at Chuffery. If she had the look on his face would have been a treat. He was so stunned that she had dared to intterrupt him. She had never done that during their marriage or their courtship. Ever. Rage overtook his shock very quickly

"You dare interrupt me with an insult by asking after your filthy gigolo, you whore?" he raged as h kicked her chair and overturned it. Glinda couldn't help herself, adrenaline took over and she screamed then as the chair fell over and then cried out in pain as she landed on the cold stone. She coughed and spat out the bloodied molar that he had knocked loose with his slaps and which had come clean off the root when she hit the floor. The blonde twisted her neck to look up at him with a strange new fire in her eyes.

"Which one of us is the whore, then?" She asked with another slight cough "Me, or him? Surely one of us had to be paying for the other." She watched with a sort of distanced satisfaction as he went white with rage at her defiance.

"You...you..." he spat at her before reaching down and yanking at her hair painfully "YOU'LL SHOW ME RESPECT! BEG! BEG FOR YOUR LIFE!"

"You're going to kill me anyway!" Glinda gasped in tearful indignation. He released her hair at this and her crying became a little more audible, but not fully sobs or whimpers. Nevertheless she continued "I'm not giving you the satisfaction! Where's Ijiri? What have you done with him? And Dorothy! The poor girl's nearly a half-wit these days and she didn't have much up there to begin with! She's harmless!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Chuffery roared in her face "Speak again and I will kill you as I should have done long ago!"

"You'll kill me anyway!" Glinda shrieked again, feeling a sudden rush at the realization that she was right. He was going to kill her. She laughed hysterically, but her laughter also held a strange sort of power as she twisted awkwardly to look up at him.

"You'll kill me anyway!" she repeated with a trace of the hysterical laugh yet a stronger tone. She was going to die and nothing short of a miracle was going to change that yet that knowledge somehow gave her a sort of strange, inexplicable power in the situation. She didn't want to die, but had—in a burst of clarity—accepted that. But if her death was imminent, she was _not_ going to end begging for something that wasn't going to happen and was not going to go out as her husband's screaming slave.

"You'll kill me anyway," she said again, almost unable to stop herself from repeating the words that had inexplicably given her this twisted sense of empowerment. Her Ex stood with disgust and started to stalk away, conceding defeat without even realizing it as he snapped some more insults and profanity at her. None of his verbal assaults stopped her shouts from echoing even as he slammed the door shut.

"YOU'LL KILL ME ANYWAY!"

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Liir felt numb.

That was the only word for it, really. Numb. He'd felt that way since his sister had left days ago. He knew logically, somewhere in the back of his mind, that this would not be a permanent emotional state—but it didn't feel that way. His sister- his _twin- _had …Sweet Oz, she'd practically disowned him.

He couldn't think of what he could have done to have deserved something quite that harsh. He had been sharp with his sister, perhaps (if he were willing to admit it) unfair, but that was a fraternal crime that earned him retorts that were equally cruel with truth, not a complete severance of ties! She couldn't be serious.

Except that she was. All too serious. She had even abandoned Killyjoy and Zach. Well, perhaps _abandoned_ wasn't the right word; she had ensured that they were cared for by leaving them with those who had so diligently protected and loved her throughout her life, though in doing so she had cut off her connections with them as well. She had not even so much as said goodbye to them. That knowledge nearly sent Liir into a rage. He couldn't believe that after her long speech about being underappreciated and taken for granted she had done the exact same thing to the people who had never in her life _ever_ treated her with anything but love and caring; she had said so herself on several occasions!

Nevertheless, he didn't have time to think about his sister's betrayal. For even if she had emotionally committed treason he didn't believe that she would have double crossed the rebellion like that. Not to say that there wasn't that possibility now that they— admittedly with his help— had pushed her away. He was convinced that Rhonaraye had not been behind the raid and therefore there was still a traitor in their midst. The other more immediate matter was the escape of Chuffery and the capture of Glinda and Ijiri.

At the forefront of his concern was the battle that seemed to have slipped his sister's mind. His vision had been of the fight which would decide the outcome of this war would happen at the eclipse. Something that was rapidly approaching.

Then there were his parents. He had no idea how to find them and wished that he had spent more time concentrating on his Oracle gift as his mother had nagged him to. If he had, maybe he could bring them back to help. Then again, his gift had already proven useful. Even if everything seemed to be falling apart they knew one thing.

He took out the calendar that Dr. Dillamond had made up, one that recorded things like eclipses. Their army had been discreetly put on their guard but not entirely consolidated yet with little more than one supernatural vision as evidence. Nevertheless, everyone was ready for the fight they knew was coming. All they were really waiting for was confirmation.

However, not everyone was willing to wait. Liir was one of them. He was surprised to find who agreed with him, however. Kynot was pushing the idea of a preemptive strike amongst anyone who would listen, and was making progress. The unlikely pair had already had a secret one-on-one, something that unsettled Candle and the others from that group. As a matter of fact, the quadling was with Liir arguing about the bumped-up evacuation and her participation in it when the old Eagle hopped into the young man's room unannounced.

"General Kynot," she said quietly as she stood from her seat on the small couch, trying to summon the courage to tell him off (he was an intimidating to the most confident of people) but never got the chance.

"Dr. Akota is looking for you, girl. Snap to it." He ordered snappily. Candle didn't move. Wizantier!" He snapped in his military manner. Liir stood from his seat, still holding Candle's hand gently. He knew what was coming.

"Pack your bags. The army's mobilizing."

"Where we heading?" Liir asked as he started to move towards his dresser, his hand slipping out of the Quadling's. She seemed taken aback by this and her eyes tracked his movement as he yanked a packed pack out from the closet, barely registering the rest of the conversation.

"You're going on ahead to scout. We have intelligence that places the Goblin King near Kumbrica's point." The Eagle told him as the young man double checked something in his pack while walking back towards the couch. During these steps Candle saw something flutter to the floor. The young woman blinked slightly and walked over to pick it up. She frowned at the handwriting a minute before her eyebrows shot up. She turned back to where her boyfriend was heading for the door.

"Liir!" she called. He paused and turned at the sound of her voice as she approached and gave him the letter. From the angle she came from it looked as though she had taken the letter out of her pocket. He misunderstood, she saw it in his eyes but didn't get the chance to correct him as he pulled her into his arms. She returned the embrace and then initiated a deep kiss, each clinging to the other. Theyboth knew that there was a possibility that this would be their last intimate moment together. Kynot grumbled with impatience but they both ignored him.

"Here," Candle said with a slight sniff as she held up the letter again "Take this."

He did so and cupped her face with his free hand.

"I love you." he said quietly. She leaned her face into his hand and smiled slightly, fighting against any tears.

"I love you." she replied in a whisper. He smiled at her and then turned back to Kynot. They exchanged some more quick sentances about something that was difficult to understand out of context, a context that the Quadling did not have, not being privvy to their earlier private conversations. As he reached the door however she took a step forward as she beckoned to him. He paused and turned at the sound of his name. Candle swallowed

"Please don't do anything reckless." she begged. He nodded and told her that he wouldn't. She didn't believe him as he hurried off. He was the only one she had ever loved, at least in _that_ way. He had been the one to draw her out. She didn't know what she'd do if something happened to him. All these thoughts flashed through her mind as a single tear slid down her cheek.

"Please come back." she whispered.

* * *

_Okay, i had originally planned to have the big battle scene in this chapter, but found that this story has exploded and I needed to set a few things up first. I hope that this is still a satisfactory update after so long a wait!_

_Please review!_

_Speaking of which, _

_my dearest FriFro: As always, lovely and flattering! How am I doing? Ugh! I'm having computer problems again. *Sigh* Will be getting a new one soon. Sorry for the wait, I've been re-writing most of it now, as you can probably tell, and have had a surprisingly small amount of time to work on my fanfiction these days! However, aside from that I am doing very well, thank you for asking:)_


	40. Part 3 Chapter 11 part 1

**AN: Hey everyone. Another long hiatus, I know, sorry. This chapter a) experienced a few technically based set-backs (*groans*Surprise, surprise!) b) suffered from another busy-spell that I've had recently and c) completely exploded in length (like this story all around, actually). **

**As a result of point c), this chapter has been split into two parts, so there's not a huge amount of character death here yet. We get some more action-packed sequences coming up which will hopefully keep you on your toes! So, please review. The next chapter, or rather next part to this chapter, will be up by the end of the week :). The more reviews I get the quicker it will come...usual hint. Also, appologies about any typos. I'll try and fix it a bit when I get some more time.**

**P.S These next two chapters are DARK and have a lot of violence and character death (the latter moreso next chappie). Reminder that this is very much a T rated story now!**

**Part 3 ch 11**

Dorothy was playing with the tasseled edge of the fabulous curtain draped in her room with a sort of merry vacant-ness. The tassels were black on the pale blue border; they reminded her of her beloved Toto with his beautiful blue bow. She made the shaggy strings dance around with her hands like the dog hopping around. She liked it in her new room, it was ever so pretty and she didn't have to do anything at all. She hummed a merry little tune to herself and then spoke to 'Toto', imagining for just a moment that her faithful little friend was still with her. She felt so very lonely without him. Perhaps that nice Xorthion would find her a puppy that looked like him! He seemed to be able to do anything! The thought made her sing a song about a rainbow softly as she gazed through the window with a happy sigh, thinking of Kansas and her imminent return to Aunty Em and Uncle Henry…

It was in this state that the young man found her upon entering the room. He again felt an involuntary stab of pity for the poor creature but also felt like rolling his eyes. He resisted such a temptation but it was sometimes a struggle. Rhonaraye would not have been so content in a cage, no matter how pretty or comfortable it was. She would have seen through such a deception, she would have been restless and would never be able to be so idle and vacant for so long, just as he would be unable to! How did this woman _stand_ such tedium?

After watching her a moment he revised his previous thought. How did the woman enjoy such a prolonged absence of stimulation? She truly was a child in a woman's body, both in her endearing innocence, unswerving trust, sweetness…

…and her irritatingly limited intellect.

The latter he couldn't exactly complain about though, even if the former made this deception weigh on him a little. Not enough to reconsider his actions, but enough to know that he might not view it as his most honorable escapade should he ever think on it again.

"Hello Dorothy," Xorthion said with a smile. The woman looked around and her face lit up.

"Lord Xorthion!" She exclaimed tossing the edge of the curtain away from her and scrambling to her feet. He had not asked the title of her, she had apparently come up with it on her own. He did admit that he liked the ring to it, though.

"Oh, I am _so_ very glad to see you!" Dorothy cried as she bounded over, gazing up into his golden eyes with her large, trusting brown ones. "Is it nearly time for me to go back toKansas?" Every few words was punctuated by a slight, imploring half-nod as she asked this question, one of her many little quirky mannerisms that he had noticed. He couldn't help but look down at her with warmth, warmth that was not entirely feigned as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Nearly, yes." he told her "But you see, before you can go back, I have to take you somewhere that isn't very nice."

Dorothy frowned, a cute little pout on her mouth as she struggled to figure out such a statement

"But, why?" she asked, craning her head around and up slightly to look at him with that befuddled expression.

"Because, there are some very mean people around here. And they don't want you to go home." He told her patiently, speaking as though to a child. Rhonaraye would have never stood for such a tone, but this earth-girl didn't find anything amiss. She almost seemed to enjoy it. Such disdain was useful to mingle with those involuntary protective feelings that Dorothy had an unnerving savant-like talent for arousing in people; it kept him focused and unwavering from his goal.

"Yes, I know." Dorothy replied sadly, thinking of Morrible and Glinda.

"So, we have to keep it secret." Xorthion told her. She nodded with a slight 'ah' before frowning again, her mouth moving into a little round 'o' before she asked

"So…why couldn't we do it here? You're the only one who comes up here." She pointed out. Xorthion had been ready for this question. He hadn't been sure whether or not to expect it, for she did have moments where she came close to displaying an at least average intelligence before inevitably (and quickly) returning to her child-like blankness.

"Yes, but you see the guards know that you're here and people might listen to them. I'm going to take you to a place that only I can get to, but I must warn you," he said as he maneuvered round so that he was facing her again and put one hand on her shoulder, keeping her an arm's length away and looking right at his face. "To do what I need to do to get you home I have to have a few other people there who are not very nice. You don't need to worry," He added quickly, seeing her eyes widen slightly in sudden alarm "They are my prisoners. But they will try and tell you things about me that just aren't true. Now you don't talk to strangers, do you?"

"Well, sometimes I can't help it. Like when I first came to Oz," Dorothy admitted sheepishly as she looked down and scuffed her shoe guiltily a moment before looking back up at him "But most of the time I do my very best to do what Aunty Em always told me!"  
"Good girl," Xorthion smiled "It'll take me a little to get everything ready so when we get there I'll give you something nice to drink and you can even take a little nap if you have to. There will be other people there, remember, but that's okay. They can't hurt you. Now these are very bad, mean, untruthful people and I really hate having to have you near them but it has to happen to get you home. So you must shut your ears to their lies, alright? If you don't, then I'm afraid I can't send you back to Can-Sas. You need to have complete faith for the spell to work. Now these criminals are mean and petty and they don't want you to go home and they'll tell you that I don't. Now, I _am_ going to miss you, but I want you to go back to your home that you miss so much. So, will you come with me?"

"Oh yes, I'd come with you anywhere!" Dorothy declared. At this point, Xorthion firmly (and smugly) believed her. It had not taken a great deal to earn her complete and utter trust. A few kind words, a trinket or two, a figure with a pleasing countenance saying everything in just the right tone, a magic trick or two with pretty lights and colours...That was all that was really needed.

And she was blithely off like a lamb to the slaughterhouse.

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The sky was peppered sparsely with stars as the legendary Broom made its laborious track across it. The poor thing had rarely been called upon to carry the weight of two fully-grown flesh-and-blood creatures, never mind three.

At the front of the broom, steering it, was the green woman to whom it belonged. Her grey eyes were steely in anger and her knuckles were several shades paler than her palm as she clutched it. Behind her with comforting arms around her waist was her lover and only behind him hanging onto the younger man shoulders for dear life was the seedy, frail Wizard. The silence between the three was a tense one as animosity rolled off the broom's driver in waves. Elphaba did not like this situation. Going from what concerned her the least to what absolutely riled her was that firstly, she did not like that her time to simply enjoy a bit of peace and joy with the newly re-humanized Fiyero—which was always going to be short thanks to their duties—had been cut short. She liked it even less that she had encountered the Wizard yet again when what she never wanted to see him again, meaning that she was even more miffed that he was now riding _her_ broom with _her_ and her lover and above all _slowing them down_! But what really got her goat, what really made her angry was the news that her estranged father had given them: that her best friend had been taken prisoner by her psychotic ex in a raid that had left the Alliance Base in shambles and her daughter leaving with no intention of ever returning apparently!

All of this amounted to one of the sourest moods either man had ever seen Elphaba in.

Currently, the trio was forcing the poor broom through the air at a speed that it struggled to maintain with the weight of three people and which was no where near fast enough for Elphaba. She didn't know for sure where to go, relying solely on reports from Animal Spies and her Monkeys' occasional forays into enemy territory. She had not been very happy about the latter's trips, but had to admit that she was currently grateful for them. Summoning her precious winged Monkeys hadn't taken much; they were so devoted to her they only had to hear a whisper of her voice carried to them magically and they were off like a shot. They had brought her the information she had wanted: the location of Chuffery's home within the Goblin territories.

The Green Witch knew he would have Glinda taken there. It was where he wanted his ex-wife: under his feet and trapped within his household. She could only pray that they made it to rescue her friend before it was too late.

At the back of the broom the Wizard jumped with a startled croak when something jostled his shoulder. Fiyero too was a little startled when he heard a sort of chirping off to one side. His expression of surprise quickly turned to a broad grin to see that Elphaba's Monkeys had found them. The troop whizzed and dove around them, snarling at their ancestor's original captor and chattering at Elphaba and Fiyero. One female made her way to the front of the broom and flew beside her mistress. This was the female who had shown such talent for language as a youngling and how had been so fond of Liir. Her vocabulary had only increased to the point where she was now a fluent and eloquent speaker. She was leading the troop now.

"We think we've found the location, Miss Elphaba," she panted, her leathery wings beating powerfully through the air "South from here. It's no tower, but it is big. A mansion we believe, with Dungeons that the servants fear. But miss, it's deep in enemy territory."

"Elphaba," The Wizard began "Maybe we shouldn't—"

"Look, the ONLY reason you're here is that I wasn't going to risk that town should anyone decide to go looking for you to make you pay for your crimes! People are angry enough right now that they won't care who they hurt in the process! So keep the conversation to a minimum until I can find somewhere to drop you off securely!" the green woman snapped at him. The old man's mouth closed with an audible 'click' and he almost shrank in on himself. Fiyero took pity on the old man.

"Maybe he could help us," he whispered in Elphaba's ear.

"How? He's a bloody coward."

"He can still pull a trigger. We need all the help we can get."

"I'm not giving him a gun, Fiyero." The Witch said curtly. The Wizard heard this and knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Elphaba Thropp!" He exclaimed, wounded "I would never turn on my own daughter!...Again." The last word was a sheepish admission but his voice gained strength when he continued "I know what I did you all those years ago was wrong. I'm sorry. You may never forgive me, but I would never _ever_ harm you again. Not after last time…not again. I always longed to be a father, remember? And fathers don't hurt their children! Not real ones, anyway. Not good ones."

"So tell me, what do you call a man who imprisoned and coerced his child for two decades after he discovered the identity of his offspring?" Elphaba snapped over her shoulder. The Wizard shut up, defeated. She would never grant his dearest wish. He would never be her father. She would never trust him, never turn to him, never ask him for advice, never love him.

That being said, she didn't drop him off and instead both allowed him to stay when he asked and let him take a pistol when they stopped by a cache of old hidden Rebel weapons.

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The Goblin King normally enjoyed a rather plush cushion on a lavish throne or an even more elaborately comfortable mattress when he was seated or resting. However, his circumstances appeared to have drastically changed that early summer morning just before dawn.

He was rather slow to wake and when he started to regain consciousness, he was disoriented. The last thing that he remembered was sitting comfortably in his bed chambers and thinking on the lady Morrible. He'd had her picture out, one that had been hidden away for years that depicted the two of them donning graduation caps. It had been taken decades ago, when they were both still young and before they hated one another. Now she was gone; her skull bashed in by some young firecracker she had failed miserably to harness. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that. He almost felt haunted by her even though she had been dead such a short time.

Now, however, he was no longer in his chambers and he was no longer comfortable. As a matter of fact, he was rather uncomfortable. His hands seemed to be bound by something—no, not bound. _Weighed_. Weighed down.

A strong but pleasant smell passed under the green man's nose and he inhaled it deeply, his nostrils flaring slightly. It was a familiar smell, one of his fine bourbons if he wasn't mistaken. He grunted slightly as he moved and opened his eyes.

Squatting on the floor in front of him was his pet Mage, Xorthion. The young man looked down at him with a now familiar look of deep-rooted hatred that the King normally laughed away. From this vantage point, however, it was rather difficult to dismiss.

The young man was indeed holding a bottle of the King's favourite alcoholic beverage. He took a swig from it, allowing the contents to slosh loudly. He swallowed it slowly before holding it towards his Master, just out of his reach.

"I'm sorry, did you want some?" he inquired coldly, his tone making it quite clear that his offer was borne out of a desire to have his master ask for something as opposed to any actual generosity. The Goblin's eyes narrowed and he tried to get up only to find that he couldn't quite make it all the way, only up to his hands and knees for on either wrist was a manacle connected to a short chain which ended in a rather large iron ball. He jerked his wrists as hard as he could and there was a slight screeching sound on the floor, though they didn't even quite move an inch. He tried again with similar results.

"Don't like that, do you?" The Mage inquired acidly, his expression one of hard, cold, barely repressed anger. He took one last swig from the bottle and set it down beside him before he stood slowly and walked around his captive.

"My deepest apologies about your new accommodations, _master_." He spat, continuing his predatory circle "But have no fear—well that's a bit of a stupid thing to say actually because you really should be very afraid. My point is that your army won't miss you one bit. There's a rather convincing double sitting in. I helped him out with a spell or two, of course. See, all he really cared about was that he was able to eat for the first time in days and able to eat however much or whatever he wanted for the first time in his life. No one will really think anything's amiss for a day or two and to be honest," he leaned in so that his face was inches from his former master's ear "All I need is a few more minutes."

The Goblin King strained to sit up and look around. He wasn't entirely successful but he was able to crane his neck around the edge of the stone altar to see the bottom of a cage and a pair of ruby slippers.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

The King sneered at him.

"You don't learn, do you? RELEASE ME!" The goblin boomed. He knew that the bind wasn't as strong as it used to be, but he also knew that there was still a connection between him and his favourite playing piece.

Xorthion tensed and gasped, his eyes going wide for a moment. The next instant he relaxed again and snorted, spitting on the floor next to his decidedly former master.

"You know, I worshipped you as a child." He said as he resumed his circle "I didn't have anyone else, did I? You were the one who soured it. Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do this?"

"Well, you've satisfied yourself now, don't you think? Look, I'm your prisoner. You've shown me that you're upset now. Release me and I'll give you a little more space. Lands. How does that sound?" The King asked, negotiating, trying to wheedle his way out of this. It was not going to work though. If anything, his attempt only made Xorthion angry. The young man's fist slammed down next to his head.

"You're lucky I don't have time to recreate what you had done to Rhonaraye in your dungeons! You're lucky I don't have time to reproduce all those punishments you had meted out on me! You're damn lucky, understand? Though," the mage snorted "You could have been luckier. You didn't actually have to be awake for this but it's just going to give me so much more satisfaction." He turned his back on the trapped goblin, giving the king a chance to look around. He was in a circular room in some kind of tower. In front of him stood a large, elaborate stone slab…an altar of some kind perhaps? There was a book laid on it along with several materials. It was then that the Goblin King noticed that he himself was sitting in a carved circle on the floor, the centre of a pentacle. He looked up at the Mage, not comprehending the situation but knowing that it wasn't good.

"You want to know what I'm doing? Well fair enough, since you're a part of it, I suppose you would want to know." Xorthion said as he bounded back over and squatted in front of the green man again.

"I'm summoning the Time Dragon." He whispered before snorting at the Goblin's expression "Oh yes, there was basis to that myth, its all in this Grimmerie here." He pointed to the large tome on the altar "And I found a few other books on blood magic as well. They're not Grimmeries, so they probably aren't as accurate, but I got all the information I need between them. You see, once I've summoned him, all I need is a little offering to give him, a snack as it were. Oh no, it's not you." He said quickly, seeing the Goblins eyes widen. The mage sneered contemptuously at him.

"Don't be so self-important," Xorthion snarled "See, I need blood of both worlds, that's why your Fishy Ex thought I'd use the lady Mage's mother, as if I'd harm her family after what happened with the Donkey! But back to the point, that was the safeguard to prevent people from using the spell. I've got a Munchkinland noble, pompous as you, almost. I think his name's Shield, or Rock or Turtle or something like that."

"My names Shell, actually." A male voice said acidly from somewhere out of the Goblin's line of vision. Tristan ignored him and continued

"Then I picked up some Gilikinese Socialite, just to make sure I had my bases covered and then, of course, there's charming little Dorothy. The beauty is that I don't actually have to kill them if I don't want to, since I'm using so many sources."

"It sounds as though—"

"Oh you're still on the hook." The mage cut in sharply, putting the King back down in his new 'place'. "See, I need to wake this Time Dragon up. Once I do, I will have nearly limitless power, albeit only for a few minutes. But then, that's all I need to crush both sides and claim victory to end this war. But I need to wake the beast up before I can barter for its power-loan. It takes more than a few chants to do it, it likes blood, remember? Oh dear, did you think that getting me to tell you my diabolical little plan you'd be rescued in the nick of time?"

"I-I…" The Goblin stammered, rooted in fear for the first time in decades as he watched his creation turn on him, for Xorthion truly was his creation. He had taken an innocent little boy and twisted him, abused him and then gave him just enough rope to emotionally hang himself with that red-haired witch—hell he'd hung drawn and quartered himself with her!

The king registered somewhere through his terrified shock that his former kept-mage had come around behind him

"It's too bad no one told you, that particular cliché only works for good guys!" The Mage snarled. There was a flash of silver, a scream in the background, a sharp pain, a warm, gushing sensation and then a numbness. All he saw was red as Xorthion released his head and it fell to the floor, though darkness was creeping quickly along the edges. Soon his last breath escaped in a hiss and his body slackened, a tiny among of drool falling from the corner of his mouth to mingle with his more colourful bodily fluid spreading towards the pentacle.

The King's murderer stood and watched this coldly. Part of him, somewhere deep inside that still thought of this man as a sort of father-figure, recoiled in horror. Most of him, however, felt a thrill at seeing the one who had single-handedly destroyed the young mage's life slowly losing his own. As soon as the sticky red substance exuding from the form of the goblin reached the edge of the large circle encompassing the body and the altar Xorthion picked up a mid-sized hourglass with red sand and turned it over. His time to prepare was now set.

888888

Glinda had no idea how long she had been left in her cell once Sir Chuffery had left. At some point she had fallen asleep, her exhaustion overruling her physical pain and her emotional turmoil. She had been left on the floor on her side, the wiry ropes digging into her and her muscles cramping at the awkward position. She was pretty sure that her shoulder was dislocated by now.

A sudden bang roused her along with a bright stream of light that outlined two shadowed figures. There was a grunt and a few exclamations followed by a thud as a body was thrown to the floor. Glinda recognized the voice and the outline of the features immediately

"Ijiri!" She breathed. He, too, was bound. His hands were cuffed together with heavy manacles and his body wrapped in chains too which pinned his arms to his shirtless torso even further, preventing any useful movement. The Prince looked at the blonde and held her gaze as two soldiers dragged him to his feet and released the chains along his body to haul his wrists up, hooking the single, solid link between the manacles to an ominous hook dangling from the ceiling, using a pulley to lift him up to that his feet dangled from the ground as Glinda's chair was righted.

The torches were re-lit so that the occupants could see one another, or rather, could see one another's injuries. Glinda sniffed as a silent tear ran down her bruised and swollen cheek to see the discolored skin and lash marks that riddled her lover's normally smooth and sculpted torso as well as the numerous injuries on his face.

"I'm so sorry…" she gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ijiri shook his head

"Don't take credit for what you didn't do." He panted, determined not to allow her to blame herself for what had happened to him. His look conveyed it all so that he really didn't need to mouth the words 'I love you'. He did it anyway, even knowing that it would prompt the arrogant Chuffery to strike his back with the fancy walking cane he was carrying. The Vinkus man clenched his teeth and growled slightly but recovered fairly quickly.

"That the best you got?" he snarled. The crazed former Lord sneered.

"No, actually." He snapped his fingers. One of the goblins walked out of the room. Once the miniature minion had left he turned back to his prisoner and sneered before bringing his cane down on top of the chained man's kneecap.

"You coward!" Glinda shrieked, tears streaming down her face "You bloody, horrifible coward! You miserable weak old man! You can't take anyone on without stacking the deck beforehand!"

"What did you just say to me?" Chuffery growled, no longer shocked at this defiance but nevertheless furious. Just then his minion returned. In one hand he carried a hot poker and in the other he held a dagger.

The Witch's eyes widened in terror as the little goblin handed her ex the instrument. The man looked at it and smirked cruelly before turning his gaze on his male prisoner. He advanced slowly, like a deranged cat closing in on his prey. Glinda and her lover both realized exactly what he intended to do. The vinkus man raised his chin defiantly as the blonde paled.

"Chuffery don't." she begged. He ignored her and she jerked against the restraints hard enough for the wire-like ropes to draw blood. "Please, no! Stop! _Don't_!"

"If you show me the respect due to your superior, I'll consider it." He said "Otherwise—"

"Don't fall for it!" Ijiri snapped. He knew what her ex was up to. He had found, much to his surprise undoubtedly, that his wife had acquired some more gumption since they had been together. Beating no longer elicited the response he wanted so he was using Ijiri to illicit the reactions he desired, to gain power over the blonde. The VInkus Prince shook his head again before adding in a gentler tone "Glinda, don't."

"Keep your mouth shut you filthy little grass-squatter!"

"Ha! Pathetic old man like you, you really think you could take me on without these shackles?" Ijiri challenged. He tensed involuntarily as the heated metal neared him suddenly when the former noble rushed at him and dug his fingers into the younger man's neck.

"Trust me when I tell you I haven't even _started_—" Chuffery's snarl was cut off with as the door flew open with a bang, the silhouette of a tall, thin woman clutching a broom and wearing a tall pointed hat framed beneath it, the outline of a tall, broad-shouldered man flanking her on one side and a small, hunched over shadow on the other. Several winged monkeys hovered around her.

"Maybe you haven't," a blessedly familiar voice drawled as the woman in front strode into the cell, the light casting half her face into shadow but highlighting the green skin rather spectacularly on the other, "But I think you're done!"

"Elphie! Oh thank OZ!" Glinda cried, nearly sobbing in relief as the monkeys flew at the goblins with howling battle-cries.

"You didn't think I'd leave you with that after what happened last time, did you?" The green woman asked as her broom handle came down sharply into the nose of a charging goblin before a winged monkey snatched it up and began grappling with it.

"Elphie, if I ever criticize your timing or even your wardrobe again—"

"I'll know you've gotten over the trauma!" Elphaba retorted as she literally swept a small goblin away from her.

Somewhere behind them an alarm sounded.

"Looks like we're going to be having some company." Fiyero said, gripping the rifle they had picked up along the way.

"Secure the door and use it to limit the number of soldiers that can make their way in here! If we can take them on by twos and threes we'll be just fine!" Elphaba snapped without taking her eyes off Chuffery, sounding like the hardened general she was quickly becoming over the course of this war. A Monkey and the Wizard hopped to obey her quickly whilst Fiyero made a bee-line for his brother. They needed him if nothing else.

Chuffery backed away from Elphaba as she pointed her broom at him. He didn't fear many people, he certainly held nothing but contempt for most women, but he feared _her_. He hadn't forgotten how she had so unceremoniously kicked him out the last time. Except that had been several years ago, and he'd learned a few tricks himself. With a snarl he took out a small glass sphere he had been saving for his wife's lover and threw it at the green witch. Elphaba dodged it and was glad she had, for when it shattered on the wall the hissing sound made it very clear that the compound had some very strong acidic qualities.

As the pair started fighting and the Wizard set about scuttling around to block the door with some Monkeys, Fiyero ran over to his brother. He found the pulley quickly to release him from the ceiling, though he was a little too enthusiastic about it. Ijiri let out a grunt when he fell to the floor rather hard and then groaned.

"Oops." Fiyero murmured, quickly shooting a tiny soldier running towards them before hurrying to his brother's side.

"Brainless as ev— what happened to you?" Ijiri asked, his tone changing from annoyed groan to a groan of surprise, a sort of 'what exactly did I miss?' kind of tone.

"Long story." Fiyero said as a flying Monkey flew over and dropped a set of keys into his hand and another pistol by him on the ground for Ijiri, who was free from his restraints in a turn of the keys.

The older of the two brothers wasted no time in picking up the pistol and scrambling to his feet with a wide grimace and a growl, firing as he started to stumble over to where Glinda was still tied to her chair.

"Are you alright?" The blonde asked her lover as Fiyero stumbled over and handed him a knife to cut the wires binding her. She glanced at Fiyero briefly when he arrived before looking back at her lover. She'd barely opened her mouth to say something to Ijiri when her good eye widened and her head whipped around to stare at her ex.

"_Fiyero?_" She half-shrieked in shock "Sweet Oz that youth fountain thing actually wor—" her exclamation was cut off when a blast of fire narrowly missed their heads, forcing them to duck. The instinctive reaction threw the blonde off balance and she toppled off her chair. Both Vinkus men were kneeling by her side in an instance, though not solely out of concern for her, part of it was self-preservation.

"What in Oz has he gotten his hands on?" Glinda exclaimed, for the blast of fire had come from something that one of Chuffery's minions had thrown at Elphaba, missing the Witch as narrowly as it had her friends. It seemed that he had amassed a wide range of destructive brews and minor hedge-wizards with creepy spells. With these attacks coming from all directions, Elphaba was having a little trouble. The Monkeys were doing their best to help them, but their barricade was collapsing and Goblins were responding to the alarm that Chuffery had sounded. A second burst of flame ignited off to the side, allowing them to see where it had come from this time: not magical means, but the simple use of an ordinary missile draped in an oil-stained rag lit by a match. One of the small, sickly foot soldiers winced when the flame singed his fingers. Sweet Oz he was barely more than a child…

A sudden burst of rage consumed Glinda. How dare he? HOW DARE HE? How dare he use children to attack her best friend? Her anger only increased when some of the flame caught the edge of Elphaba's skirts. That wasn't really what got her goat though, nor was it the fact that one of her monkeys grabbed a bucket of water and doused the flame with it (The witch had never really been allergic to water after all). No, it was the way her former husband proceeded to laugh. The green woman's eyes narrowed at this reactions, but she stood tall, proud, dignified and ready to strike.

"Well, I guess the artichoke really is steamed now!" He boomed "Too bad you don't really melt. Ah well, I'm sure I'll find something to do the trick. You think my wife looks a little beat up, huh? You were always so interested in that, if I recall. Well, you think _she_ looks bruised now, wait until I'm done with both of—"

"NO!" Glinda screamed, enraged. Not really thinking it through, the Blonde wrenched her arm away from the supportive touch of her lover and snatched his pistol from his hand just as Chuffery moved so that his back was squarely in front of her. He turned at the sound of her yell as she pulled the trigger and a bang rang out. Elphaba saw her friend's action over her opponent's shoulder and hit the ground just in time for the blonde to start pulling the trigger rapidly. This was a very good move on the green witch's part, and one that several of the goblins copied after only a moment, for the Witch of the North had never been trained in the use of a gun and didn't have the best of aims when perfectly fit, and she currently could only see through one eye.

None of this helped Chuffery, though, for she didn't stop firing.

"You! Are! Never! Touching! Me! Ever! AGAIN!" she yelled, punctuating each word with a shot as she emptied the pistol. With each bullet that made its mark the former Ozian lord lurched with the impact. The first shot hit his shoulder. The second missed. The third got him in the stomach. The fourth went high and both fifth and sixth went wide to clamor off the walls and various surfaces until one went right through a small green servant and another ricocheted into the back of Chuffery's knee. The seventh and final bullet in the weapon, however, imbedded itself in his right temple. After that she continued to pull the trigger but it only emitted a slight clicking sound to indicate that it no longer had any ammunition left.

For a moment Chuffery just stood there, his eyes buggy with shock both mental and physical. The next moment he keeled over backwards, hitting the ground with a decided bang, his cane rolling out of his fingers and onto the dank floor. No one moved at first. When they did they all turned their heads to stare at the battered blonde, still holding the gun in a trembling hand.

It was Fiyero who broke the silence. He cleared his throat and addressed the dumbfounded Goblins

"Tell you what," he said, "Tell us how to get out of here without any more of your buddies bothering us **or** we'll give her another loaded gun. Anyone care to surrender?"

Every Goblin in the room dropped whatever weapon they had or released their grip on a winged Monkey, snapping their hands up into the air.

"Alright then."

8888888

Liir and General Kynot perched in the branches of a very large tree to observe the field directly outside the goblin stronghold that they were attacking. The field was large and surrounded by hills and woods. Liir and Kynot's army was using these woods to sneak up on them, beating the goblins to the first strike of this all-important final battle.

"I hope we're doing the right thing with this attack." Liir mused as he watched both parties prepare for their own strike, the enemy apparently unaware that theAlliancehad had the same idea they had.

"Of course we are. This ends and it ends today." Kynot replied gruffly, "We have the element of surprise on our side."

"But not power. If it comes to a confrontation of magic—"

"It won't." Kynot cut him off before quickly adding "The enemy mage hasn't been seen in days. Rumors have it that he's taken after your family and started locking himself up in his rooms."

Liir frowned slightly at this but said nothing. Instead he let out a long breath and climbed down a few branches where the trunk was wider and he could lean against it. He slung his sack around off his back and reached in for some water. This fight was going to start soon and he needed all the water he could get beforehand. As he rummaged through for a quick snack as well his hands brushed against a piece of paper. His hand stilled as he pulled it out along with the apple he had been searching for. He took a bite out of the fruit and frowned at the envelope in his hand. It was the letter that Candle had given him. He took a crunching bite of his apple. Well, this might be his only chance to read it.

When he opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment his heart skipped a beat and he sat up straight again. He swallowed the bite of apple slowly as he scanned the contents. This wasn't Candle's handwriting. Suddenly he tensed and his eyes went wide as a now-familiar vision struck him; the one of the woman lying amongst some kind of wreckage, blood everywhere, death everywhere…

It was gone as quickly as it had come. He shoved the parchment into his pocket.

"I have to go," he said. Kynot jumped slightly at this statement. His feathers puffed out as he looked around at Liir with an indignant glare.

"You're not going anywhere! We're about start the most vital campaign of your life!"

"And I will still fight for my friends and family, Kynot! I'll be back before the fighting gets too serious, trustme." He said. The young man then faced forward and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate. He had never really practiced this spell much but…

He jumped into the air and with a puff of red smoke he was gone.

The Eagle stared at the spot where Liir had disappeared to, his feathers still puffed out. After a moment he relaxed. It was alright, one minor possible setback. Nothing more. He'd be back. Nothing would be interrupted. They'd still win. They'd still win. They had to win.

* * *

**So, reviews please? Here are the answers to a couple**

**GoodWitchesofOz: **I couldn't remember if I PMed you for your last review or not, things have been so hectic so I'll answer here :) Firstly, thank you! Secondly, I'm glad you like the multiple directions, because as you can see it is a continuing trend. I also really feel warm and fuzzy inside that you are anxious to hear from my OC! Thanks!

**FriFro: **Thanks, as usual :) As for the story, we are near the end. I know I seem to have been saying tha for a while and then ended up making a liar out of myself (oops) but this time I really mean it, honest! I'm thinking the second part to this chapter: action and then either one or two chapters about the aftermath of the battle/war and the epilogue.

**Review pretty please! Tell me what you think!**


	41. Part 3 Chapter 11 part 2

**AN: Alright then, so I promised you a chapter by the end of the week so here we are. Unfortunately, this is another update in a hurry and also still not the end of this action "chapter". I fully admit that this story has gotten out of hand. So once again, I apologize for typos. this really turned into much more of a rewrite then the edit it was originally intended to be. O well. I've also found something else that I really should have elaborated on in just a touch more detail ages and ages ago in part one. it turned out to come up here. **

** So, lets kill off a couple more now, shall we? What can i say, its war! As usual, please review. **

**Part 3 Chapter 11- Part 2**

Xorthion walked into his private chambers and calmly closed the door behind him after banishing the guards— quite literally as a matter of fact. The soldiers who had been posted to any corridor near his room had been sent to another realm entirely. He wasn't sure which one, he hadn't studied that particular brand of magic extensively, but they wouldn't be found anywhere in Oz so there would be no interruption and no warning sent to the Goblin King. He had gathered everything required, now he just needed to ensure that the ritual itself went off without a hitch.

He flipped through the pages of his grimmerie to prepare the markings he would need on himself for the ritual ahead. Every once in a while he glanced over at the hourglass he had in his room which was enchanted to reflect its mate in the secret tower chamber to ensure that he was on schedule. Everything had to be perfect: this was old magick, summoning the Time Dragon Spirit. As such he needed to be meticulous in the following of the old traditions.

Consequently he took off his long, flowing white robe so that he was clad only in a pair of close-fitting iron-coloured pants and boots, topless. He positioned the mirror carefully and used it to mimic the designs in the book with the black paint. He had already practiced this before, thankfully, for the paint dried at a remarkable rate.

Once he was finished he picked up an over-robe and shrugged it on, glancing at himself in the mirror. He was in pretty good physical shape and it showed. His frequent use of certain magic had kept his skin unusually pale, he knew that. It wasn't the most attractive pigment but it wasn't entirely ugly either, though it made the black and green swirls and symbols stand out vividly as he began to button up his robe again.

As he did so his thoughts returned to the future. Once he had succeeded he wondered if he should make an effort to return to the tanned complexion he'd had when he and Rhonaraye had first met. He'd definitely allow his hair to grow out and resume its natural curl, he knew that she liked that and quite frankly so did he. The mage was so lost in his musings that he almost didn't sense a very familiar presence approach.

"Tristan?" a quiet but strong voice beckoned from the door, drifting like music to his ears. The pale mage felt himself stiffen. Only one person could possibly have slipped through his spells and barriers against anyone entering. Only one person knew him well enough to figure out where he had concealed his chamber and what illusions he would have cast to do so. And only one person had that voice.

The young man slowly turned to see what he hardly dared believe. His golden eyes met the bright silver gaze of Rhonaraye Throular, daughter of Elphaba Thropp and Fiyero Tiggular, Lady Mage.

Her long scarlet hair had largely escaped the braid it had been confined to, framing her face and partially concealing the Mage-staff strapped to her back. She conveyed that look of strength and power that he was so entranced by, largely without even trying to. She stood just inside the room, the door half-closed behind her as though it were perfectly normal for her to be there. As if this were their home and nothing more than an ordinary bedroom they shared.

It was his dream.

"Rhonaraye." He breathed. She turned slightly in order to fully close the door and then quickly looked back at him.

He wasn't sure who moved first, him or her, but the next moment they had met halfway across the chamber in a hurry and thrown their arms around one another to smash their lips together in a passionate kiss. Her hands roved from his back to his shoulders to the sides of his head as she held his lips to hers to deepen the kiss and keep him from pulling away immediately, not that such a thing was really needed. He had no intention of removing his lips from hers as he wove his fingers into her hair. Their tongues dueled and slid over one another and their eyes closed as they each lost themselves in the moment. Even when their need for air slowed the kiss down she gripped his lower lip gently between her own, her teeth lightly sliding over the smooth skin and she slowly opened her eyes to look at him.

"How did you find me?" he asked breathlessly, their noses still touching

"It wasn't difficult when you know what to look for." She whispered, unable to keep herself from smiling as she chuckled "You always use the same concealing spell for something large. Your signature is all over this place."

"But the goblins…how did you get past undetected?"

"I thought you'd have a little more faith in me," she smiled breathily without elaborating. He kissed her again quickly but deeply.

"Why did you come?" He asked her. His tone and the way his thumb stroked her cheek making it clear that her presence was not something that he didn't want. She understood his suspicion and didn't take it personally. Instead she reached in to a pocket in her long coat and slowly pulled out a rose, offering it to him the way he had so frequently offered it to her during their time together during their teens.

"If you still want…if you still want to be with me, then I'm here for _you_." Rhonaraye said nervously. For a moment the mage said nothing, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as his hand covered hers over the flower between them.

"Really?" he whispered. The redhead nodded once and slid the rose out of his fingers and pressed the base of the stem to the silk of his over-robe. Her fingers glowed and the stem wove itself into the fabric on one side. Rhonaraye then smoothed the robe before running a hand down his bare chest, looking at the markings calmly.

"You were right." She told him as her silver eyes roved their way up his body greedily until they settled at his own golden irises "They don't trust me. They never did even after everything I did for them. You were right all along. We don't belong here, neither of us. They've shown us again and again that they don't want us and it won't matter what we do we'll always just be the freaks, the weapons enclosed in skin, just…just tools—"

Tristan cut off her hurt rant by gently pressing his lips to hers. This kiss remained tender and comforting as they wrapped their arms around one another. When they came apart they held one another close before the redhead pushed against Tristan's chest gently so that they were looking at one another again.

"Run away with me," she said, her fingers closing on the collar of his robe lightly to emphasize her request.

"What?" Her lover asked, hardly able to believe his ears.

"Run away with me!" She repeated vehemently, moving her hands to the sides of his face as her own visage glowed with feverish excitement at the prospect of her proposal "Let's leave! Go somewhere on our own and live out our lives in _peace_. Together."

"Together." He repeated, before adding, "Forever?"

"Yes." she replied quietly but sincerely. "I _love_ you. I'm tired of living my life without you. I'm leaving this place today, I might even leave Oz altogether! Come _with_ me. We can build our own paradise, explore our magic, find out its boundaries and then push it further! We could write our own grimmerie, create new spells, write an entire library if we want to and let it go down in a fanciful, obscure legend or something," They both chuckled at that idea, the redhead even as she said it "The possibilities are endless! We could even start a family someday if we wanted. _Let_ them fight their war! We don't have to be a part of it for another second! Not if we don't want to. Please." The last word was a sincere, desperate plea. Rhonaraye had been in a similar position before, feeling utterly rejected. Isolated

She _could_ live her life alone. She was capable of it, but it was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted a companion, a partner, someone to share her life with and this was the man who had displayed his ability to do that before; he didn't try to dominate her and didn't make her carry his weight. They complemented one another and always had.

Xorthion took her hands in his.

"I never want to be apart from you again." He said. The redhead smiled in elation at his statement and he returned the gesture before his own expression hardened "But why should _we_ run? They should running from _us_! They have to pay for everything they've done to us."

"Tristan, sometimes you just have to move on and that's what I want to _do_!" she said, her teeth not quite clenched with her emphatic statement

"I _can't_!" Tristan half-bellowed, his rage towards their innumerable enemies coming to a fresh boiling point once again "They disowned us! They tried to dominate and intimidate us, treat us like the dirt under their boots because they were scared of us! They tortured you and drove me from your bedside to turn you against me! They have to pay, all of them." He growled. Rhonaraye blinked, frowning slightly at him as though x-raying him. She hadn't missed the way he had grouped everyone else, be they human, Animal or Goblin, into the same 'they'. He sensed that she needed convincing.

"_We_ should be the ones in control! We're the ones with the power to make everything we've dreamed of happen! Can't you see?" his question was almost a plea in and of itself. There was a flash of something in the redhead's unnaturally bright silver eyes. He couldn't quite place it, but it wasn't good. There was a long pause before she spoke again. When she did, it wasn't what he had hoped to hear.

"Tristan, we shouldn't have political power. Neither of us." She said calmly, putting her hands on his shoulders to emphasize her point. His hands came to rest on her upper arms as he spoke

"That's _them_ talking," He said with an odd combination of dark anger and loving patience in his tone.

"No it's _not_." Raye replied firmly "You and I have…Lurline, we have limitless power together. We don't need crowns too." The young man sighed and leaned his head back slightly in mild exasperation. The redhead set her jaw and pushed her point "It would destroy us, Tristan. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"But that's _them_, not us!" Tristan exclaimed, pointing towards the window to indicate the people he was talking about before pointing back to himself, "_We_ know what it's like to be treated badly! We won't do that!"

The redhead took a step back, shaking her head in trepidation.

"After a year we wouldn't recognize each other! We could end up at one another's throats! The last thing that I want is to be your enemy! Never again, Tristan. _Never_. We _can't_ go down that path. We _can't_." she exclaimed, using arm gestures to convey her message as pointedly as possible.

"And if we don't?" The pale mage demanded "Did you ever think of that? To them we're tools and nothing else! Not people, batteries! Cannons! Battering rams! _Slaves_! They won't allow us to just slip away! They _won't stop_. They will keep coming and coming and coming and what happens if they ever actually figure out how to read a grimmerie? Both of us know that there are magic dampening spells, enchanted objects, potions, all sorts of things that can strip power away! The moment they put together how to do that we're done for! I tell you what we can't do; we can't go back to cages or dungeons!" He raged. His lover looked a little taken aback. It appeared that she had not thought of such a possibility; she had labored under the delusion that her masters cared about her for too long. A single tear slid down her cheek as she stared blankly at a point just below his shoulder, clearly deep in thought. He waited a moment before crossing the distance between them.

"We won't make their mistakes." He reassured her "I know that I, for one, will _never_ stop loving you."

There was a long pause of silence between them punctuated only by their breathing. Finally, Rhonaraye looked up and into Tristan's eyes. There was a strange calm in her gaze, an acceptance, a sort of peace. It made his heart skip a beat. She was with him!

"I _hadn't_ thought of that," she admitted sadly as her gaze flickered down a moment, a far away look in those silver eyes. "And you're right. It could never end that easily."

He could see that this had crushed her hopes on the admittedly tempting daydream she had fantasized over, much as he had before her. There had been a time when that had been all Tristan had ever wanted…before _they_ had parted the pair and turned them on one another, before vengeance began calling. Tristan didn't voice any of this internal monologue and instead nodded at what she said.

"But we will win. We'll be _free_…and together. No one will ever turn us against one another again." He said, taking both her hands in his. He then chewed on the inside of the corner of his cheek before adding a little sheepishly "Besides…I already started. I have until the sands run out of that hour glass to prepare for the next phase of the incantation.

The young man held onto her hands, fearing that she would reject him again, for something again flashed across her expression, though it was gone before he could fully identify the emotion. However, she didn't pull away. In fact, she returned the gesture with a slight increase of pressure as she squeezed his hand back.

"Show me what you're planning." She said, her voice low and determined, her eyes flashing "And we'll finish this once and for all."

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The little green fellows turned out to be rather helpful. One, trembling from head to toe held at gunpoint by Fiyero, showed them a secret passage that would lead out of the estate at least. Their journey through these tunnels was tense and horribly slow with Glinda and Ijiri's injuries; the former could barely walk and had a dislocated shoulder among other things.

Once they reached the exit to the tunnel they found themselves in the woods. It was there that they made the difficult decision to split up. Ijiri in particular had insisted on it so that Elphaba could use the broom to get Glinda to some kind of medical attention. He himself wanted to fight. The ladies had not been hugely keen on this idea, but eventually Elphaba had sided with the plan. Glinda really needed to get her injuries seen to, and Elphaba wasn't about to shirk her friend's welfare. Her agreement came with a condition: the Monkeys went with the brothers. They agreed.

With that Glinda, Elphaba and the Wizard were in the air on the broom. Once again with three people it was very difficult for the broom to reach any kind of altitude that would make the green woman comfortable, particularly when they cleared the tree-line. In the sunlight, however, the Blonde was now frowning and blinking a lot as she craned her neck around to get a better look at her friend's face. Back in Chuffery's dungeons she had been a little preoccupied with her psychotic ex and it had been dark, but in the daylight there was a definite change.

"Elphaba...did you start using the facial mask at night without telling me?" she asked in confusion "You look...well you look twenty years younger!"

"It's a long story." the green woman drawled with a smile. "Hold on, we're clearing the tree...line."

The witch let out a hiss of air in shock at the extent of the battle that had begun to rage. From the air all three of them could see the rusty shade staining the brief glimpses of soil and grass the trio could see in between the sprawling figures that were violently skirmishing both in the woods and on said valley and hills.

Glinda knew what her best friend was thinking. After years of war she had been acclimatised to this kind of violence, but not to a mother's worry. She was scanning the battlefield for any sign of her children, for any particularly powerful magical activity or a flash of a colour in Liir's clothing, quite frankly anything. It was something that Glinda knew she constantly worried about, but something that she normally had a little more information on going into it as to their whereabouts.

"Elphaba, you're children are remarkable and powerful, they will be fine—"

"Watch out!" Elphaba and the Wizard shouted at the same time, cutting the Witch of the North off as the broom took a sharp turn to avoid a flaming missile that flew through the air before banking just as quickly and awkwardly to avoid crashing into a rather large tree, sending the broom hurtling into a crash-landing. The green woman twisted as they spiraled to the ground so that her injured friend's fall was not as jarring as it could have been by pushing her into a particularly moist and sludge-like heap of dirt. The blonde was still winded, but had never been so happy to be filthy.

The green witch jumped to her feet and started scrambling for her broom when the battle instincts that she had garnered over the last few years kicked in and she whipped around in time to jump out of the way as Muhlama came crashing down on the spot where she had been standing a moment before, grappling with one of the Animals who had defected to the other side; a member of her own tribe. It hurt the Green witch to see family members turned against one another like that. It was a distraction that came very close to being disastrous as she stood watching the two Tigers 'yeowl' and hiss as they scratched one another up and didn't see the soldier stop when he saw her and take aim with his gun. Her friend did.

"Elphaba!" Glinda screamed. Time seemed to slow as Elphaba whipped around at the sound of her friend's voice, her loose black hair slicing through the air as she saw the smoke issue from the barrel of a rifle in a goblin's hand. It was as though the bullet could even be seen as it moved towards her. In the background the witch could hear her friend's scream of terror and denial, though her cry mingled with another. Something pushed into her and the green woman was falling to the side with a grunt.

When Elphaba hit the ground it was as though time resumed its regular pace. There was another bang of a gun, this time from the shot firing into the air, followed by a screech and another thud as Ijiri and Fiyero took care of the would-be assassin. Elphaba merely lay where she was for a moment to catch her breath and allow her heart a chance to re-boot. Something— or rather someone— landed with a thud next to her, raising up a small cloud of dust with their impact. The witch let out a shaky breath as she sat up and looked over at the body beside her. Her eyes widened and she threw herself next to the man, rolling him over so that his head was held up and cushioned by her thin hand.

The wrinkled face was drawn in pain, the thin lips spluttering with a cough that exuded a small spray of red from the old man's mouth. The witch holding up his head looked down to where one bony, wrinkled hand clutched at his chest. There was a blossom of scarlet spreading across his shirt from where he had thrown himself in front of the bullet for his daughter. The Wizard's thin frame shook as he reached for Elphaba's face.

"A-are…are you…alright?" he rasped. His voice was weak and his breath gurgling from the blood in his lungs. The green woman nodded. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered Glinda running—or rather hopping— madly towards them and hurling herself to the ground at Elphaba's side with a whimper of pain and a torrent of concern. Her impending session of fretting was cut short with a gasp when she saw the red blooming across the old man's filthy green suit.

"Why?" the green witch asked in a whisper. The Wizard's mouth twisted in a sad, agonized smile.

"It's…every…parent's right." He coughed "I might not have been much…of one and…I know that you…hate me…b-but I'm…sorry and I…love you."

The green witch felt a single tear slide down her cheek at his final statement. She couldn't believe that he'd said it. Those three words. The three words that Frex had never once said to her, the ones that she would have given anything to hear from her father, now came from the lips of the man who had first exiled her to a life of hiding before trapping her into servitude that she had viewed as slavery for years. The man she had hated for decades.

The man who had just saved her life.

"Elphaba…" he struggled, covering the green hand on his chest with his own and managing to grip it weakly "Elphaba…I want you to take this…It's yours anyway." He rasped as he pulled out the second bottle of Green Elixir. He allowed it to roll out of his fingers to the ground so that she wouldn't let go of his hand "And I want you to know…how… …how sorry I am …"

The green woman shook her head and leaned forward slightly, holding his hand with her own between them.

"I know." She said quietly, not quite meeting his eye. She looked at the ground a moment before returning her gaze to his face. The frail hand squeezed her green one with slightly more force: a burst of strength born of urgency.

"Tell Liir…Tell him that I..."

"Shh." Elphaba said gently. "It's alright. He knows. He forgave you a long time ago."

"And…and your daughter…"

"I think she feels the same as her brother." The green woman said. Next to her the blonde raised the eyebrow over her good eye but said nothing. As far as she knew Rhonaraye never thought twice about the Wizard, and if she did it was with the disdain she had been raised with. The girl had never shown any interest in her grandfather, but nevertheless the blonde kept her mouth shut and didn't contradict the generous lie. Instead she watched as her best friend looked at the ground again. Glinda could see the decision in her eyes before the other witch leaned forward slightly.

"I…I forgive you too. And I love you, Father." She said finally, her last word nearly a whisper. The blonde's good eye widened to saucer-size as her jaw dropped. This motion resulted in a wince from her as it required some of the muscles connected to battered areas of her face.

The Wizard, on the other hand, smiled again. This time the expression bore no pain in spite of the tears that welled up in his eyes; there was just immense relief and joy. He leaned his head back and heaved a rattling sigh. His body slowly went limp and the light finally winked out from his sunken eyes.

Elphaba lowered the head of the Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz back to the ground softly. She placed a green fingertip over each wrinkled eyelid and pulled down gently, closing his eyes forever. Once this was done she stood and looked down at the corpse calmly. The green woman had shed only the one tear after the Wizard's declaration of paternal love. Glinda slipped her raw, bruised hand into Elphaba's smooth clean one. Her friend's other emerald palm was stained red from her father's wound.

"Did you mean what you said?" the blonde asked after several moments.

"Gossiping really trains your ear, doesn't it?" The Witch of the West quipped dryly, raising an eyebrow at her friend. Her attempt at deflecting from the question with their typical banter fell flat.

"Well, did you?" Glinda pressed. The green woman looked back down at the frail, little body of the Wizard. She looked at how the suit, which had once been perfectly tailored, now swallowed his thin body and at the wispy grey hair and the sunken eyes. After a few moments she tore her gaze away from the partially pre-decayed corpse and looked back at her friend after her internal deliberation.

"No," she replied simply "I didn't."

Her hesitation and clear deliberation of her words left the blonde little room for speculation as to whether or not she was telling her the truth. The Witch of the North knew her friend by now. She would and did lie, and lie very well, but at the moment she had refrained from practicing that particular skill. This meant too much perhaps.

"Then, why…?" Glinda trailed off, leaving the question hanging. Her friend glanced down again at the Wizard.

"Because," Elphaba said, her tone distant and thoughtful "It's what I'd want to hear." With that she stooped to the floor and picked up the bottle. She held it in her palm a moment, looking at it. She snorted, shaking her head a little at it before returning her attention to Glinda.

"Come on," she said, taking the blonde's hand and draping it over her bony shoulders so that she was supporting the other woman's weight slightly "Let's see if we paid enough attention in ducking class to find our darling men-folk and get you to Dr. Akota without getting ourselves killed. Hate to break it to you dearie, but you look like hell."

Glinda couldn't help the very slight smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth. They limped away only a few steps before she made them halt with a mild protest.

"Wait, wait, wait," The blonde said, speaking as though she had forgotten to do a chore. "We can't just leave him there,"

Elphaba glanced over her shoulder one last time. After only a moment she returned her attention to the path ahead.

"Yes, we can." She said. Her statement was final, but for once (considering the subject) it was not harsh or dismissive. Merely practical. They were about to cross a battlefield. There was no use in martyring themselves for a carcass.

Glinda couldn't help but notice as they started to move, however, that Elphaba had safely stowed away that little green bottle somewhere in the folds of her gown.

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Annette Midland was fairly certain that she had never been quite this terrified before. Being trapped in a cage with a stranger and held captive by a blood-thirsty madman certainly tended to have that effect on people. Neither of them could really delude themselves about what was going to happen to them after seeing him deal with the Goblin King either. Her companion also wasn't much help. She had the nagging feeling that even if they did find a way out that he would very happily throw her to the wolves to save his own behind.

However, in spite of all this she had felt stung when Xorthion had called her a 'socialite'. Her clothes may have been similar to one of that number thanks to the timing of her capture; she had been trying to wheedle her way into the good graces of some of her distant, noble relatives to get money out of them for the war effort. Not that she looked like one now. The fancy dress she had been touting was filthy and in tatters and her blue-streaked black-dyed hair was a mess. She hadn't even aspired to be anything remotely socialite-like, much less acted like such a spoiled brat, since high school. She'd thought that she had built up a decent enough reputation as an Architect. Now she was merely the sacrificial lamb, cowering and shivering in her little prison, waiting to die. She hadn't fancied herself as a coward, but she was no warrior and fully admitted that. Still, she hadn't thought she'd go out like this.

What really got Annette's goat was that there was someone on the outside of their cage who would have quite easily been able to help them. She had been unconscious on the floor when she and Shell had awoken and had slept peacefully through the slaughter of the Goblin King. When she had finally woken both Annette and her cellmate had tried to warn her. She had stuck her fingers in her ears and yelled at the top of her lungs. Literally. Somehow the mage had already managed to get to her and had turned her to his side.

"I never thought that I would die like this," Annette whispered aloud as she sat against the bars closest to the wall in their circular barred prison. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her elbows rested on top of them slackly.

"Yeah, me neither Toots," the Munchkinlander snarled as he slammed his hands against the lon iron rods imprisoning them. They had both attempted to climb them to no avail and tried to figure out a way to bend them or squeeze through to the same hopeless result. "I had plans. Pfft. So much for that."

"My name is not 'Toots', it is Annette Midland. And I'm no socialite. I was on my way to actually making something out of my life." The young woman snapped. She seemed to have surprised Shell mildly, for he looked around at her and raised his eyebrows, not having expected her to challenge him. Damn it! What did she have to do to prove to people that she wasn't just another rich Gillikin girl? Well, she probably wouldn't get a chance to do anything about it now. With an annoyed sigh she glanced over at the Munchkinland Governor.

Dorothy was sitting huddled by the window. After waking up from her lovely nap the people in the cage, the criminals, had started berating her and spreading lies about Lord Xorthion, just as he had told her they would. The result was that she had gotten so upset and frightened that she had huddled up beneath the window, very put out. She vaguely wondered if she had always been like this. She didn't think so, she didn't think she'd been quite this afraid, after all she had struck the cowardly Lion before she knew he was cowardly, but maybe she had just been more annoyed then she was now…whatever it was, she felt too much stress and fear to even consider bravery. Right now she just wanted her Handsome Wizard to come and rescue her, like a prince rescuing a princess in a fairy tale.

There was a sound off to the side where the door was as it opened with a creak. The aspiring architect moved her hands to the ground to sit up a little straighter and lean away from the door. When she saw the flash of white skin she twisted towards the wall side of the bars and pulled her limbs in tightly, trying to make herself as small as possible as she sent up a last desperate prayer to the Unnamed God. As she muttered her final pleas she heard Dorothy leap to her feet with a cry of relief and run towards her would-be killer, her ruby heels clicking as she did so.

"Oh Lord Xorthion, they were so terrible! They said such terrible, awful things about you, just like you said! But I didn't listen to them, like I promised! I did just like you said so that you can send me home to Kansas!" the former Munchkinland Governor told him quickly. There was some sniffling and then another 'oh' as Dorothy noticed that someone else had apparently accompanied the handsome magician.

"Hello, Dorothy. Do you remember me?" the Lady asked gently. The older woman nodded, as doe-eyed as ever. The red-haired lady smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

At the sound of Rhonaraye's voice Annette jerked out of her prayer and scrambled to her feet, stumbling over to the other side of her circular cage. She gripped the bars with both hands as she leaned forward, unable to believe her eyes.

"Raye!" she exclaimed "Sweet Oz! Raye it's me, Annette!" The redhead looked up when she heard her name and Annette smiled in the desperate, buggy-eyed way of someone clutching at their last, frayed chance. The young woman who had been her roommate so many years ago and who had resumed their friendship since the outbreak of the war looked around when her name was called and looked her right in the eye. The aspiring architect couldn't help but note the body language, the way her dear friend stood so calmly with this killer, the way they both leaned in towards one another without even realizing it, The way they were so…comfortable with each other. It didn't bode well for Annette and Shell. Neither did the slight Deer-in-the-lamplights look in Rhonaraye's silver eyes.

"Help me." Annette pleaded. She was glad she managed to say in a strong, albeit quiet voice. Rhonaraye held her gaze silently for no more than an instant before looking away again and returning her attention to Dorothy, smiling at the woman kindly as she lead her a few steps back. She acted as though they weren't even there. Annette understood. The redhead had made her choice. She was choosing him. The architect didn't know why she was surprised. From what she knew this was practically the love of Rhonaraye's life and above all, he seemed to understand her. The aspiring architect could see how a life as lonely as the redhead's had been could make that very difficult to turn down. It didn't stop her from feeling incredibly betrayed though.

After making sure that the earth girl was going to stand where she had been Rhonaraye walked over to where her lover by the ominous stone altar, sliding a hand up his back to his shoulder lovingly as she leaned around his side to look at the spell books he had in front of him. Without even looking up Xorthion/Tristan slid his own hand around to the small of her back as they both bent over the spell-book. The gesture conveyed so much more than words could have— and not really anything the smitten Dorothy nor the defeated prisoners felt they liked. At the same time, though, they couldn't help but feel touched by it even if they didn't want to admit it. The pair was so attuned to one another; you'd never tell that they'd been at each other's throats or even been apart for so long. It was as if nothing had ever happened between them…like they belonged together.

"So after you summon the Time Dragon, then what?" the young woman asked,

"It's already begun. We should be ready any moment."

"Yes, I understand that Tristan, but _then _what?" she pressed "This is dangerous magic, one false step and that thing will—"

"I know, I know!" Tristan smiled good-naturedly, giving her a peck on the cheek as he reveled in her presence. It was as if that partnership had never been interrupted. "I have no intention of getting myself killed or maimed. It's simple. I summon the Time Dragon, which I've done. Then we make a bargain. For a short time I will have limitless power at my disposal."

"What exactly are you going to do with it?" The young woman asked, still apparently unclear about this aspect of the plan.

"Simple. What is magic? We order something and it happens. Most people need spells and incantations to make anything happen, but you and I, we're Royalty. It does whatever we want; we don't even have to use incantations to coerce such powers to our bidding! It makes us perfect wielders for this. With the Dragon's magick at my hand, I can literally build an empire in an instant and order _them_ to our bidding. That way we can stop them from killing each other and from ever trying to hurt us again!"

"But Tristan, that kind of power on top of your own…it has to go somewhere! It could destroy you from the inside out!" Rhonaraye interrupted in concern, her voice dropping to an urgent hiss. Tristan looked at her, then at Dorothy and then back before leaning in towards her further so that Annette had to strain to hear what was said.

"That's what the other sacrifices are for." He whispered in her ear. "Don't you see? That part was the safeguard put in by the old Mages, by the dragon. An attempt to keep people from this summoning. The Dragon needs something special. Blood of _both_ worlds." He glanced over at Dorothy meaningfully.

"I know." Rhonaraye breathed back, "It's why Morrible thought you were after my mother."

"Yes, but there's nothing that requires the bloodlines to be from _one_ person. I can use more than one and I am. I have my bases pretty much covered. Munchkinland, the Gillikus, Kan-Sass…It'll work. I promise." He reassured her, taking both of her hands in his own and squeezing them once. She nodded, still clearly uneasy and nervous, but accepting. Tristan smiled slightly at her again before turning back to the spell book. He did need an incantation for this, and he would need to say it before the glow traveling outwards from the center of large pentacle drawn around the altar (and the curtained-off body of the Goblin king) reached the outer points. He raised his hands and took a deep breath. He was ready for this. They were ready for this. The era of the Emperor Mages was about to begin.

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Liir did not manage the task that he had set himself; the battle had started by the time he managed to find Candle and Doctor Akota. He ducked and dove to avoid charging soldiers, bombs and gunshots. The Alliance army had already spread out into the valley and the goblins had merged into the woods, making the whole area one giant battle ground. The young man ran with his father's sword in one hand and a gun in the other, yelling Candle's name the whole time. He threw himself to the ground and covered his head with his arms. There was a blast several feet away from him.

With the clearing of the bushes and trees that came with the blast he finally heard the voice of the one he was seeking.

"Hurry, hand me that bandage, we'll need to do this now or he won't make it to the unit!" Candle was telling one of the younger nurses that she had with her. Liir felt his knees nearly go weak with relief to see her alive and in one piece, even if she was a little dishevelled. Her black hair was escaping tis messy bun beneath a white bandanna, her sleeves rolled up to her biceps and her forearms stained red. She flinched and turned her head to the side as she tried to tie the bandage over the arterial wound. She finished off just as he was lifted onto a stretcher and carried away.

Liir ran forward as soon as he was sure the way was clear. He had barely reached her when another bomb went off and they both threw themselves to the ground, Liir almost instinctively pulling the quadling towards him to try and shield her smaller body with his own. When they looked up through the fog of dust what they saw approaching them made the couple pale. A figure was rapidly walking towards them with jerky, robotic steps, and axe gripped stiffly in its hands. Had the metal man not been covered in grime and blood and dust, the daylight of the otherwise offensively cloudless, sunny day.

Candle and Liir didn't even have to look at one another to grab hands and scramble to their feet and run. The Tin Man ran after them as they made a mad dash for a group of their soldiers. They weren't going to make it. They were just jumping over some fallen packs when Candle's foot was caught in a broken saddle. With a cry she fell to the ground, winded, her ankle twisted slightly. She whimpered in pain and terror as the clunking sound of Boq's approach grew ever closer.

"Liir, hurry! He's after you, I'll just slow you down!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Liir growled as he drew his father's sword. He looked around subtly for a way out of their predicament. Everyone around them was understandably busy fighting for their own lives as the Tin Man creaked his way over. Just then the sound that Boq was making gave Liir an idea. He glanced around and saw that a nearby tree had been hacked into when someone had missed their target. It had even kept the short, heavy broadsword for good measure, the thick, viscous sap coating the blade. Sticky, gooey sap was dripping from the young quoxma tree and was starting to form a small pool, not a large one. No, but a small one was definitely present.

"Hey! _Rust Bucket_!" Liir bellowed at Boq. The metal man stopped and squared his feet in a fighting pose, his hands clenching on his axe

"If I can't destroy Elphaba," He said in a low tone "Then I'll just have to settle for her precious son! She took my heart away from me, now I'm going to break hers!"

"Yeah, kind of got that, but you'll have to catch me first, don't you think?" The young man challenged. "What's the matter? Don't want to actually face me? Oh that's right, I forgot. You're not just missing a heart, you've got no guts either! No wonder Aunt Glinda never liked you!"

Liir knew that he was hitting below the belt but it certainly did the trick. With a roar of rage Boq's axe came over his head and he charged towards the young man, who had moved to stand just next to the damaged tree. He leapt back in a dance move that his father had taught him when the Tin Man swung his weapon and then skipped around the other side of the tree when he recovered and swung again, the second attempt going much too wide thanks to the metal man's rage and causing him to lose his balance. He put one foot back to steady himself and heard a strange sort of squelching sound. He had stepped in the small, circular puddle of sap from the tree. He struggled to free himself to no avail and then once again swung his axe, this time embedding it in the tree instead of striking Liir as he had intended.

The young man stepped back around the tree and then leaned back to avoid the grimy metal hand that snatched the air when it tried to grab him. Sap from the tree was already congealing on the blade. The Tin Man struggled and fought and snarled to no avail and Liir crossed his arms over his chest, still gripping the sword.

"You know, I was a terrible student as a kid," he said "Until one day when I was about 15 I got the most intriguing partner for a life sciences for this project. It turned out to be a botany unit. Did you know that a very effective alternate source for glue is the sap from the Quoxma tree. The only problem with it, is that it dries and hardens too fast for most people to bottle it. But, just in case,"

Liir dodged Boq's arm and snatched his oil can off his belt and poured it out before discarding it amongst the other rubble. He then unhooked his water canteen from his belt and threw it at the Tin Man's face, neck and shoulder. It would take a while for him to rust, but he wasn't going to be going anywhere. The sticky sap was one of the reasons that quoxma trees grew so tall; the sap made them very difficult to chop down, so cutting him free would be extremely difficult even if someone became so inclined. Besides, within an hour he wouldn't be able to talk to yell for help and in the next 60 minutes, there would be too many similar cries for anyone to pay any attention.

"Leave my family alone." Liir growled at him "And _never_ seek us out again and I might just re-oil you once this is all over."

"I'll get you one day, just you wait!" Boq yelled, his jaw already becoming stiff.

"Then I guess you better get to like the scenery." The young man said as he walked back over to Candle and helped her to her feet. He had barely made it there when one of the numerous stray cannon balls whizzing about zinged over his head. He had only enough time to whip around at the sound of a scream and then throw his arm across his face and crouch down as it made contact. When Liir looked up again he and Candle had gotten away with a mere coating of soot and perhaps some singed clothes. The Tin Man, on the other hand, had not been so lucky. Where he had once stood, trapped in the spot, there was now a molten pile of something twisted, blackened and probably smelly.

Liir looked around them. He saw bodies everywhere, some of whom he recognised. The Ape, Mikko, for one, was lying face up on his back. A wooden pole was sticking through his abdomen, his face frozen in an expression of shock. Another was a Swan that Liir had never really gotten to know very well and he thought a human body looked like Princess Nastoya's friend Shem Ottokos, though he honestly couldn't be sure. He looked back at Candle. Her ankle probably wasn't broken but it was definitely sprained badly enough that she couldn't put wait on it.

"Of all the idiotic…" The Quadling exclaimed at her injury with a grimace.

"Come on, let's get you back to the medical unit."

"You're right. I should still be able to help with surgery!" She said as Liir picked her up in his arms and started to jog off in the direction of the patch work medical center. Another peppering of bullets from various guns made him duck behind another large, hollowed tree. Now was as good a time as any to ask her. He dug his hand into his pocket to pull out the paper as they pressed themselves into the large naturally occurring indentation.

"Why did you give me this?" He asked her, yelling to be heard over the deafening noise of the battlefield, brandishing the now crumpled parchment. Candle looked at it and frowned before looking back at him

"I didn't," she said with a slow shake of her head, also shouting "It fell out of your bag when you left, I tried to explain but you hurried off too quickly! But Liir, I recognise the handwriting just as you do."

Liir looked from her to the letter and then back again. The quadling grabbed his arm.

"Do what you have to do, I'll be fine."

"I can't leave you!" he insisted. As if on queue there was a sudden, closer, thud as the Bear Ralimla fell beside them. She saw them and ambled over to take shelter behind the tree they were hiding in so that she was facing them. Candle smiled at her and looked back at the quite obviously torn Liir. In an uncharacteristically bold move she pulled his head towards her and kissed him.

"Go!" She said after pulling back and practically pushing him out of the hole. "I'll be fine, go!"

Her lover stumbled out of their little shelter and looked at the Bear who had raised his sister. She nodded at him and then he looked at Candle once more. She smiled at him thinly and he took off across the battlefield.

* * *

** So, the Wizard's dead, a few minor one-mention characters are gone too, my Ocs have made another appearance as requested including Annette whom we haven't seen since early part 2 and who looks like she might be in trouble. Your thoughts?**

**Review**


	42. Part 3 Chapter 11 part 3

**Alright. Only the Epilogue left to go now. There probably isn't as much specific character bloodshed in this as I had planned, but it was too long so a few deaths have been cut out and turned into passing mentions in the next chapter—which is also sort of how it goes in wars too. Sometimes you just find out about people dying when you receive a list of casualties. Anyway, I really wanted to get this posted before going away tomorrow, so please review. **

_**Part 3 Chapter 11 part 3**_

The "abandoned" tower room of the goblin stronghold thrummed with anticipation as the sand in the hour glass dwindled and the eerie white glow inched across the lines carved into the floor. The air was thick with strong emotion, be it fear or eager excitement (depending on the individual), as well as the increasingly foul stench coming from the Goblin king's body. Annette was quiet again, though Shell had started to wheedle and bargain and plea as he realized that there truly was no way for him to escape or bargain his way out. After a while Annette snapped at him to shut up and show a little more dignity and he was apparently shamed into a sullen silence. Rhonaraye ignored the prisoners as Tristan did. This hurt Annette but she made no further attempts to appeal to their old friendship.

As the sand dwindled, the redhead approached the other mage. He was pacing agitatedly until he settled on a spot in front of the altar again, bent over his book slightly.

"Is it nearly ready?" Rhonaraye asked calmly as she leaned over slightly, her staff gripped firmly in one hand. Tristan looked up at the hour glass again.

"Yes." He said "Five minutes, no more than that." His companion nodded once

"Good," she said quietly. Suddenly there was a thump and a sharp pain on the back of Tristan's head when something hard and wooden struck it. He stiffened a moment before his eyes rolled back into his head and he sagged, a short, shrill scream and a sharp gasp behind them. Rhonaraye dropped her staff and caught him before he hit the floor.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear, a tear rolling down her cheek. With a grunt of exertion she dragged her love back to the wall and pulled his arm up to the shackles that had been intended for Dorothy, had she put up a fight. The earth woman herself was still shrieking and 'oh'ing and crying as the redhead secured one of the man's wrists in the iron manacle and fused the lock with a muttered spell. Her back was towards the girl from Can-sass as she brushed her hand gently down the side of Tristan's pale face, tracing his jaw with a feather-light touch, her silver eyes shimmering as another tear escaped.

"You! Oh, how could you!" Dorothy cried hysterically when the witch rose to her feet. The redhead ignored the older woman's hysterics as she approached the altar that her lover had intended to use, shrugging off her long coat as she did so.

Beneath the long, weather-worn garment she wore a sleeveless, close-fitting shirt with a v-neck that plunged only a few inches below her collarbone, not quite showing cleavage but giving everyone in the room a very good view of the black-painted runes adorning her fair skin with exception to her face, which she appeared to be doing that very moment with the use of a small mirror stowed away in her belt somewhere. These markings were identical to the ones that had adorned the male mage's upper body. She finished off her tattoos quickly, having been practicing drawing them for weeks now.

"Leave, Dorothy." Rhonaraye ordered without turning around as she finished up and stalked over to the cage imprisoning Annette and the Munchkinlander, Shell. She picked up her staff as she walked up to bars and gripped it near the bottom, bringing the end down on the lock with all her might and muttering a spell as wood struck metal. Multi-coloured sparks flew. The lock hissed. It trembled and glowed briefly after the third strike and it gave way. Shell was out of the cell like a rocket and ran to the door. He paused once to look back and frown slightly in pensive confusion at the woman who had apparently saved his life before bolting down the stairs. Annette was slower to leave. Instead she threw her arms around her friend.

"I shouldn't have doubted you!" She said as she hugged the redhead tightly. She wouldn't insult her friend by pretending that she had not had so much as the briefest of doubts for they would both have known it was a lie. The redhead returned the gesture; as a matter of fact she clung to the former blonde for a moment. She smiled ever so slightly to try and compensate for the shove She also pushed her away quickly, but gently. Both women were distracted by the sounds of someone 'oh'ing and fussing behind them as Rhonaraye walked away from Annette and back towards the altar.

Dorothy had flung herself at the other mage's side and was fussing over him, grapping his hand and then his face and then his hand again. The brunette put her fingers over his wrist because that was what people seemed to do when someone wasn't moving like this and then went back to his face. He didn't stir, but the mage still breathed. He was only unconscious, not dead. That didn't stop the anger.

"Oh, you wicked old hag!" She raged in a whiny tone as she glared daggers at the other woman, sitting up on her knees and throwing her fists down to emphasize every few words "You horrid, horrid, awful old…witch! You evil—"

Annette knew her old roommate well enough to recognise when the extent of Rhonaraye's patience had been reached.

"You know, I find it interesting that he was going to feed you to a dragon and I'm the old hag!" She bellowed over her shoulder, silver eyes blazing with anger. The brunette was visibly shocked into silence by this statement as much by its tone and volume as by the actual words. It had been a long time since someone had shouted at her like that, most of the time if someone lost patience with her they just snapped at her. She recovered after a pause enough to stammer

"Y-you're lying!" She cried,

"No, she's not." The budding architect snapped, "That's what we were trying to tell you the whole time!"

"No! You're lying!" Dorothy cried again, her teary voice gaining power as she stood and started to rush at the tall redhead "You're lying you're lying you're lying!"

Rhonaraye whipped around and caught her by the wrist before Dorothy could tackle her. The earth woman put up a struggle but was really no match for the younger and fitter opponent. After all, while Dorothy may have spent her youth as a farm girl, life spent tottering around to parties and openings and signing papers without reading them or asking about them didn't exactly maintain much in the way of physical fitness.

"He was going to send me back to Kansas you mean old—" the older woman was cut off by her own cry when she was shoved to the ground.

"No!" Rhonaraye shouted, looming over her terrifyingly and jabbing the index finger of her maimed and gauntleted hand in the earth girl's direction. "No, he wasn't and he had never intended to! You want proof? Tell me your opinion on what he did whilst you were in that little trance, then. I'm really very _curious_."

The last word came out in a particularly vicious growl as Rhonaraye grabbed the whimpering brunette's arm and dragged her around to the other side of the altar where the body of the goblin king lay, his blood fuelling the glow that spread through the pentacle on the ground. Dorothy shrieked and the younger woman hauled her away, practically throwing her to the floor.

"No…no, he wouldn't do that! He saved me from the dungeons! H-he was kind to me!" she sobbed "He wouldn't kill someone like that while I was asleep!"

"Well, he would and he did. Didn't you listen to Annette? I'm sure she had plenty to say. I suggest that you get comfortable, missy! Either that or start sucking up to my mother, she's your best shot at a spell that'll send you back to that can-place. Though, considering that you did kill her sister, convincing her to look that up for you might take a great deal of work on your part." The redhead growled as she flipped a page over and then settled it back into its original position with a hand that shook slightly. Annette's eyes narrowed slightly at this.

"Raye, what are you doing?" she asked cautiously. "Raye?"

Rhonaraye glanced over her shoulder to see that the glow tracing its way along the designs on the floor had expanded over the altar and had nearly completed the elaborate set of pentacles. She was out of time. She looked at the remaining freed prisoners and pointed towards the door.

"Annette, get her out of here!" She barked. The other young woman hesitated a moment and the mage whipped around, silver eyes blazing "NOW! GET OUT!"

Cowed slightly by her friend's ferocity and now convinced that there was nothing she could do no matter what it was she was planning, Annette complied and started to drag Dorothy away.

"No! NO!" The older woman screamed "No! I want to go home! I want Aunty Em!"

"Oh shut up will you?" Annette snapped as they made it to the door. At that moment Rhonaraye paused and turned back to her, catching her old roommate's eye.

"Annette," she said in a pleasant tone so very different from the one she had been using moments before. The girl with the blue streak paused and saw something rather vulnerable and frightening in her friend's silver eyes,

"Nice hair," Raye whispered before turning away. Her voice returned to its sharp edge when she was no longer looking at them "Now for the last time, GET OUT!"

Annette did not need telling again.

Dorothy did though. She was more of a match for Annette, who had never done more exercise then the minimum of what was necessary to keep her figure and consequently slowed her down as she dragged the former governor away.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been here?" Dorothy shrieked as the other girl hauled her down the stairs with a great deal of effort, resorting to cheap, petty tricks such as pinching and hair pulling, "Oh ouch, you're hurting me! Let me go! I hate this place! I hate it and everything that isn't the way its supposed to be! I don't want to stay another twenty-three years!"

"Twenty-two years and eleven months, actually." Annette said distantly as the door slammed shut behind them, causing her to flinch slightly.

"What?" Dorothy sobbed, the question breaking through her hysterics.

"Her birthday…she and her twin were born the day after your anniversary. They don't turn twenty three until next month…Candle and Zach and I were going to throw them a party…" she said, looking over her shoulder one last time at the door before dragging the earth girl down the stairs with her. Even as she did so she knew two things already; the first was that she wasn't going to risk her neck to put up with Dorothy wanting to run back to the man who would have spilled her blood anywhere beyond the bottom of the stairs. The second thing was that she was going to regret for the rest of her life was watching that door close behind her.

**8888888888**

Liir was running again. He wasn't entirely sure where he was running to, but he knew he was going in the right direction. That bond that ran so deep within him guided him, the supernatural, mental tie that he followed. He didn't know what was going on, just that he had to find his sister. He ducked blasts, dodged bullets and skirted around duels, nothing seemed to touch him. The only time he tripped and fell flat on his face was when his vision suddenly switched from the battle field in front of him to the interior of a stone room with an altar and a book. It startled him but he knew exactly what it was. He was only mildly surprised to see it.

He shook his head to clear it and picked himself up again to continue his mad marathon. He now knew where his legs and subconscious were taking him; the tower that loomed over the Goblin Stronghold. His sister was there and she was about to do something that they would both regret. Every once in a while he would she a glimpse of writing in a grimmerie, hear a snatch of a chant, the echo of her voice in the tower. He knew that he had to get to her. He didn't know exactly what it was she was doing yet, only that he had to stop her no matter what it took, because she knew that she was doing something that would cause suffering and she was doing it anyway, that was all that her brother could get from her mind and from what conventional information he had.

Liir knew he was too late when he reached the base of the tower, for just as he was within meters of the secret entrance that he had seen in his flashes from his sister the ground began to tremble. At once he was struck with a powerful flash and he was back in the tower room that made him lean against the shadows to so that he could sink to the ground discreetly.

He heard the chant finish and saw the room shake as the ground below the armies did. This tremor caused the man chained to the wall to stir with a small groan. When he opened his eyes and registered that he was indeed chained to a wall he jumped and looked around wildly with an exclamation of denial

The pentacle on the floor was no longer glowing. It was blazing. Rhonaraye/Liir gripped the large tome of magic with white knuckles, mouth dry and face drawn but determined as a substance that something like smoke started to curl up around the room. It swirled around and into the air until it formed a vaguely draconian head with eyes that glowed red.

The head swivelled around, examining the room before looking down at corpse from whose blood sacrifice it had been summoned. Finally its gaze settled on the mage in front of it, its eyes travelling over the markings on the skin which were now glowing. Its 'head' cocked slightly.

**_You were not the one who summoned me_**. A voice from nowhere boomed, echoing off the stones.

"Is that a problem?" Liir/Raye asked tersely. The Dragon seemed to deliberate this for a moment

**_No. It replied finally. What is it you wish?_**

"My proposition does not deviate. I want your power."

**_You are dealing with old magick, Mage._** The Dragon informed her as the head circled around her, forming a small prison of smoke in its wake along the large circle in which she stood with the altar and corpse. You know what the price is.

"I do." Liir/Raye replied firmly, not a hint of a tremor in her/his voice. The smoke-dragon looked over at the empty cage and then at the struggling Xorthion chained to the wall. It's next words were spoken with cunning, a clear test.

**_He is insufficient. I thirst for magic, but it alone will not sustain your request—_**

"He is not the payment." Rhonaraye/Liir snapped firmly before straightening his/her posture even further and tilting her/his chin up in a defiant manner. "You don't need the sacrifice until the end of my time with the power."

The smoke-head struck forward until it was inches from the mage's face. Its eyes narrowed and then returned to normal size. It cocked its head to one side and then the other. Its nostrils flared and then returned to their misty state. It was scrutinizing the young woman in front of it, its eyes raking up and down, trying to figure her out. Rhonaraye/Liir tensed instinctively but didn't flinch.

**_You are very unusual. Even for a mage_**. The dragon remarked before moving back to a more respectful distance. I accept your payment.

The last thing Liir heard before returning to his own surroundings was another male bellow of denial as the tower room melted away to leave the battlefield and the wall at the base of the tower. The young man gasped for breath when it did and he sat there shaking. The young man took out the paper from his pocket and looked at it again, awful comprehension dawning on him as he read the first line of the letter again.

_I'm sorry. I never wanted to cause you pain but I was left with no choice…_

He was fortunate that no one had decided that he was a valuable target. Then again, they were mostly interested in the mild earthquake they were apparently having as the ground trembled beneath them. The skirmishes around them slowly came to a halt as people first looked down at the pebbles shaking and then at the tower when a thick column of cloud like smoke began to swirl around the base and spiralled upwards to the top of the tower. The dark red, black and green hues made a stark contrast against the revoltingly cheerful day and cloudless sky.

The black substance thickened and expanded around the tower's peak like a thunder-cloud, casting a great shadow over all the surrounding area. That was when people started to get restless and start looking around wildly. It wasn't until the cloud started to flash and swirl into the shape of a great dragon atop the peak. It appeared to grip the point with one smoky foreleg, its great wings unfurling to an incredible span, its snake-like neck stretching. It let out a mighty roar to ensure it had everyone's attention, halting even the most bloodthirsty of individuals. That was when people started to scream. Once this was accomplished there was another swirl of movement and the black substance reformed into the shape of a young woman in a sleeveless, close-fitting tunic and breeches with long, thick hair. The eyes were two solid, glaring beacons of light amidst her smoky form.

"Rhonaraye…" Liir breathed as he craned his neck up awkwardly to look at the apparition. His sister's inhumanly enlarged image raised a gauntleted arm, the hand tensed.

_**SILENCE!**_ She commanded. Her voice boomed very clearly for miles around with an eerie, echoing layering to it, as though another voice had been joined with hers. People felt it in their bones, it rang in their ears almost painfully. Needless to say, her command was adhered to. Silence fell across the battlefield. Apparently satisfied, she scanned the surrounding area, surveying the damage. She shook her head, wisps of the clearly magical substance flaring outwards with the movement.

_**ALL OF YOU WILL LISTEN**!_ To emphasize her point her arms shot out and dark thunderclouds really did blot out the sun, flashes of lightning providing brief bursts of blinding illumination for about a minute as the ground shook once again. Cannons leapt into the air and guns warped themselves inside out. Even the trees moved, picking themselves up by the roots and swapping locations. All sorts of impossible things flared in front of them ominously before the form atop the tower watched. A wry smirk appeared on her lips as she twiddled her fingers playfully and manipulated the world around her with relish. A low, dark rumble of a chuckle even escaped her lips. After a time however, she seemed to remember something and reluctantly swept her arms in a firm, decisive motion. The storm clouds disappeared and all the terrifying anomalies ceased instantaneously in response to the motion.

Satisfied both at her display of power and that she had everyone's rapt, undivided attention, the enormous cloudy projection of Rhonaraye lowered her arms and raised her chin slightly even as she cast her gaze downwards. Oh yes, her message had been clear; she could do whatever she wanted to them and there was no one, not even her famous mother, who could stop her. Everyone was truly trembling in fear of her as she spoke again in that layered, booming voice.

_**THIS…EPICALLY PROPORTIONED WASTE ENDS HERE. GOBLINS!**_ Everyone green save for one witch started to shake rather violently,_** AN IMPOSTER SITS UPON YOUR THRONE. YOUR KING IS DEAD.**_

With a snap of her fingers, she summoned an image of the large green man sitting in his throne room ravenously eating like a man who had not eaten in days, which he hadn't. The smoky figure reached towards the image she had conjured up and impossibly plucked him out from his throne room, holding him between a thumb and forefinger. Everyone gasped and the goblin struggled in shock and terror as the illusion melted away to show him for the lanky, thin servant that he truly was. The dragon-powered mage released her grip on him and he screamed as he fell, the wind slowing his decent so that it was neither fatal nor crippling, only bruising. A second body came zooming out through the window. It landed hard as there was no need to cushion the fall of a bloodied corpse. The goblin king landed in a massive heap, his eyes staring sightlessly at the ground, the blood around his throat hardening into crusty little lumps.

_**THIS WAR IS OVER. FROM THIS HOUR FORTH, FOR A DECADE AND A DAY NONE OF YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TOUCH ONE ANOTHER WITH FOUL INTENT. YOUR BLOWS SHALL SWING WIDE, YOUR MISSILES MISS, YOUR FLAMES FIZZLE BEFORE THEY HAVE BEGUN. LIES SHALL DIE ON YOUR LIPS WHEN DEALING WITH ONE ANOTHER. I SUGGEST YOU FIND A WAY TO COEXIST BECAUSE FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS NEITHER OF YOU WILL BE DYING AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER.**_

**GOBLINS, YOU SEEK A HOME**. With one hand the giantess atop the tower pointed to the south. Another image swirled into the air. It moved, like a bird flying over it, showing a vast desert, though it changed. Grass came into view along with scraggly trees that grew taller and thicker. There were hills too. The image faded.

**_THERE IS VIABLE, UNSETTLED LAND BEYOND THE DESERT. THE JOURNEY IS LONG AND DIFFICULT. NOT ALL WHO ATTEMPT IT WILL SURVIVE BUT THE OPTION IS THERE, SHOULD ANY OF YOU SEEK IT._**

She expanded her attention to include everyone

**THIS. ENDS. NOW.** With that the image of the young woman vanished as the substance making it up flew out in all directions as an ominous mist. It flew out in all directions, moving through everything it came across, skipping no one. Everyone felt it; a strange, harsh prickling sensation that disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Liir felt shaky, but he wasn't the only one. Looking around he saw that the effects of the spell were instantaneous. Goblins and alliance members alike attempted to back to happily ripping one another to pieces only to find that, quite simply, they couldn't. Just as the spell had said, blows missed. Shots went wide. They could probably still have harmed one another through other means if they were smart, such as felling a tree on top of someone, but people were too stunned to try it right at that moment. The only ones who were still able to attack one another were the Animals who had defected and the humans and Animals.

Liir looked back up at the top of the tower. The enormous shadowy figure raised her arms towards the sky and leaned her head back as her 'body' swirled from the bottom upwards into a vertical spiral before shooting back down towards the top of the tower and vanishing. He felt his heart start to plummet and he leapt to his feet, ignoring the slight discomfort that he felt at the motion as he started ramming at the entrance he had seen in his sister's mind. There wasn't much time left and he knew it.

**8888888**

Back in the tower room the misty black substance rushed into the redheaded mage as though being sucked there by a vacuum. Rhonaraye's eyes rolled back into her head as she let out a whoosh of air, exhilarated. That had been such an incredible rush. She could feel the power surging through her veins still. Her breath came in deep gasps reminiscent of an addict who'd reached a drug-induced high. She took a few moments to revel in this, her arms still held up and out by her sides, her head back as she panted deeply. Finally she released her arms to let them hang by her sides, the markings on her body still glowing sporadically as were her silver eyes. Said eyes rolled back into her head and then fluttered as she returned to herself.

Slowly, still panting a little the mage got down off the stone table, her legs still wobbly as she stumbled over to the man she had chained to the wall. She collapsed to her knees next to him and used the remnants of the dragon power to crumble one of the iron manacles into dust. A sudden, sharp pain at her hand made her look down to see that the design she had painted on the back was neither glowing nor even black as she had originally painted it. Instead the rune was now a deep crimson against her skin, the area around it raw as though someone had carved it there. She was out of time.

Tristan blinked blearily at the red droplet that slowly trailed down the side of his lover's skin. His eyes widened.

"No!" He yelled as an invisible force caused her to reel backwards, away from him, hitting the floor and sliding backwards until she hit the stone altar. She let out a grunt of pain as the rune on her cheek flashed brilliantly but briefly, leaving the black ink replaced with red. These were only superficial wounds, though. For show. Tristan knew this but it didn't stop him from straining against his chain. He knew. He knew as well as she did what was coming. He struggled to use his powers to no avail. He didn't know why, they just didn't work. He could only watch in horror as she started to get up on reflex only to double over and grab her side with one hand, her eyes widening in shock as the flash of light slashed across her body like a knife's blade. Tristan yelled at the top of his lungs anyway, screaming and howling with all his might as though he were being dragged away to his death, all the while straining against the chain.

Rhonaraye couldn't stop the half-sob-half-croak that escaped her lips as another searing pain tore through from the inside out. She fell to her knees, knowing that small trails of red were appearing over the outline of the runes she had adorned herself with. The wounds were tiny, superficial, but deeply symbolic, as everything was in this ancient and powerful form of magic working. Her mind was becoming clouded; it was hard to think past the pain and with another surge of agony she did something she had promised herself she wouldn't do:

She reached for her brother.

8888888888

Liir made it about a third of the way up the spiraling staircase before the first blow struck him. He doubled over with a cry as his sister's agony tore through him as though it were his own. He blinked and quickly resumed his frantic climb before another sharp pain struck him again. The third time it happened the sound of his sister's voice echoing in his head accompanied the uncomfortable sensation.

_'Liir…'_ she whimpered through their connection. Again Liir was doubled over with the sharp stab of sheer agony from his sister. It felt like being ripped apart from the inside. He felt her pain and felt how she hated herself for this. This was why she had turned him away so harshly, cut herself off from him, tried to sever all ties. She had hoped to fray their magically-enforced mental 'rope' enough that it wouldn't hurt so much when her end of the connection was severed. Now she was clinging to it in an instinctive, pain-hazed, last ditch attempt to cling to life. It was selfish. It was instinctual. It was cruel. It was involuntary.

Liir continued to climb, or rather crawl upwards. Dimly he heard a howling sound and recognized it vaguely as the voice of Xorthion and felt a grim sort of pleasure. The bastard deserved what he got—The young man paled. His dreams. The scream of the man who deserved to be suffering followed by…the body. The young man's efforts redoubled, his movements now possessing the ill coordination born of frantic desperation. Surely there was a way to stop it, surely there was a way to save her…

Even as he thought this the sight of the stone steps in front of him disappeared to be replaced with what Rhonaraye was able to see. Her vision was blurring, but her hearing was still perfect and she could hear Tristan's cries as he struggled against the chain. There was a crunching sound as he somehow got out of his restraint and ran to her. His face was misty as the mage's vision started to fade but she would know him anywhere. He mumbled something about stopping this and tried to move her. Both Rhonaraye and Liir cried out at the fresh surge of pain this wrought...

_ ...Raye cried out again when Tristan again attempted to move her and another gash appeared down her collarbone. In spite of this-or perhaps because of it- the redhead clutched at her lover, clinging to him as her body spasmed. Xorthion shifted his grip frantically to hold her closer, shaking his head in denial. He barely seemed to notice her blood smearing all over him. She whimpered again and curled in towards him. She seemed to be questioning her decision. Her resolve was waning, but that didn't matter. The agreement had been made, the bloodrite performed and this was the payment. It was going to happen no matter what at this point. Suddenly she was frightened again. Suddenly this didn't seem like a good idea...Tristan wasn't frightened, though. He was terrified. _

_ "No! There's-there's got to be a way to fix this! We'll undo it-"_

_"It's too late…" The redhead whispered with a slow shake of her head._

_"No! NO!" The sentiment was shared and voiced by both her brother and her lover as the latter cradled her weakening form whilst the former clung desperately to the fraying connection they possessed. Rhonaraye couldn't help it, she clung to that too. She could taste the blood that was bubbling up into her mouth and it disturbed her._

_"I wish it could have…been different…I wanted to be with you… so very much…" she struggled to hiss out as she reached for Tristan's face with a trembling hand, a small pearl of crimson forming at the corner of her lips and slowly crawling to her jaw line in thin trail of red. She coughed, thickening the track._

_"Why?" Tristan sobbed, his question clearly unrelated to her statement as tears streamed down his face "**Why**?"_

_Rhonaraye opened her mouth to answer but never did. At least, she never answered the man with the golden eyes. Instead she mustered up enough willpower to send a message, a plea, to her brother. Liir's teeth clenched his teeth and turned his head away sharply at the suggestion._

_ 'Please..." Rhonaraye gasped aloud "Please Liir..."_

_ A wide grimace spread across her face as she opened her mouth in a silent cry. She couldn't focus her vision, which now consisted mostly of shadows and Liir felt it as it became more difficult to form coherent thoughts. He saw flashes of Zach, the Mule, of their parents, of him, of Tristan, and then more of Zach, of how she had orphaned him again, of how she could only hope she had done right by him, of how he was guaranteed to reach the end of his childhood now without the war to risk that not happening. She tried to comfort herself with thoughts that this would surely make things better for everyone, though treacherous doubts lingered and made it easy for her to find it difficult to take comfort from her reasons at this moment in time._

Liir collapsed against the wall of the spiraling staircase as though he had been shot as it happened, his eyes bulging and his breath coming in a stunned gasps as his sister drew her last, rattling breath in the arms of the love of her life.

_"I love…" she never finished her sentence. Instead there was a slight sound like a vocalized wince as she tensed up and then let out a small groaning sigh. Her vision went black, sounds faded to nothing and there was a sensation of falling as her fingers slid from Tristan's neck and she went slack in his arms._

In Liir's mind something which had been fraying and straining for the last few minutes snapped, rebounding on him just as if not more violently than a physical blow. The last thing that he knew was a rumbling followed by a crunching sound and the feeling that he was somehow falling.

**888888888888888**

Elphaba and Glinda had been at the medical center getting the blonde's injuries when the apparition had appeared. The green witch, specifically, had been just outside the sheltered area, about to voyage back into the fray when it happened. She felt the magic course around them before the spectacle even began. Like everyone else, she was frightened by the spectacle, particularly because she knew through both her books and her senses that her daughter had reached a level of power that no one should ever reach.

She saw that this power tempted Rhonaraye, intoxicated her slightly. She had a little too much fun with it at first. However, as much as she had felt a tremor of trepidation at her daughter's initial intoxication, her heart had then swelled with pride at how the young woman had chosen to use it. However, once the twenty-foot-tall image of Rhonaraye disappeared back into the tower it had suddenly struck her: The only way to summon power like that was through the old magick. Blood magic. Blood magic required a sacrifice.

The green woman didn't even go back for the broom that she had left inside with her friend. She just ran, her skirts clutched in one hand and her striped stockings and black boots charging across the battlefield at a remarkable pace that she wouldn't have believed herself capable of before this instance. Nothing deterred her as she sprinted, dodging soldiers' attempts to work around her child's spell and continue pummeling each other, hurling herself over miniature barricades and skipping around bodies. Her mad dash was slowed just as she came to the stretch of valley between a patch of wood and the fortress when she skidded to a halt as screams again erupted around her. Elphaba herself had never been much of a screamer but felt the terror that those around her did while she watched in horror as the tower began to collapse.

Elphaba shrieked out her children's names before tearing off towards the crumbling tower. She barely made it to the bottom of the hill when there was another cry of denial, this one male, as an arm shooting out around her waist caused her to lurch forward and spun her to the side slightly just before a small shower of shingles from the tower peak. The green witch threw her long black hair out of her face to look back at the man who had both saved and diverted her.

"Fiyero, you don't understand, they're in there!" she cried, struggling against him "They're both in there, let me go!"

Nothing but the unspecified but still very clear statement that their children were in trouble would have prompted Fiyero to let go of her. It didn't really make a huge difference though, for by the time he released her the structure had come down completely. The green woman staggered away from her lover as she threw herself towards the wreckage.

"LIIR!" She screamed "LIIR! RHONARAYE!" She ran towards a pile of stones and shoved a stone aside, looking around wildly as she alternated between screaming her son's name and shouting her daughter's. A few meters away from her Fiyero was doing the same. Pretty soon there were others converging on the carnage; a few nearby soldiers had been squashed by the place coming down.

Suddenly Elphaba saw a hand beneath a pile of rubble... a hand connected to an arm which was clad in a shirt that she recognized. Her eyes widened and she threw herself to the floor and started throwing the stones aside, digging out her son. Finally she managed to clear the rubble away from his head, smoothing his dark hair away from his forehead along with some dust and pebbles.

Elphaba's handsome son had never looked worse. Then again, she had never seen him after his first encounter with Xorthion. His face was a pulp of bruising and swelling, jagged cuts along his temple and jaw. His shirt was ripped, filthy and bloody. His hair was matted and covered in dust and his lips dry and cracked.

"Liir…" his mother hissed, easing his torso out of the wreckage and into her lap as she cradled his shoulders with one arm and stroking the side of his face with the other "Liir no…no, Liir! Sweet Oz…" she leaned in slightly and felt the most wonderful thing in the world: her son's pulse beneath her fingertips. A small, shaky smile trembled its way onto her lips.

"Fiyero! Fiyero he's still alive! He's still alive!" she cried a little tearfully, kissing his forehead as she said so and clinging to him. Fiyero ran towards her at her call and knelt down next to her, his fingers moving next to hers to feel the soft but steady pumps of his son's heart beating.

"I'll find some help," he breathed as he got to his feet and hurried away. He didn't so much as get out of earshot of his lover when he heard something else that inexplicably distracted him from his task partway through clearing himself a path, a rock still in his hand that he had been about to toss to the ground casually. It was a strange, loud sobbing. Not only did the sound distract him, however, but also the fact that he was no longer tripping to walk. The floor he was standing on was smooth stone with only a few bricks out of place. It was as if this one room had been dropped with relatively little damage committed to it. The former scarecrow's gaze continued to roam until it settled on the source of the sound. There was a person huddled in what was sort of a corner with his knees drawn up to his chest and his upper body twisted away at a strange angle towards what was left of the wall behind him, his arms up towards said wall as he slapped it with pale, bloodstained hands. He let out another hoarse, howling sob before turning his head ever so slightly and then repeating the noise at a louder volume.

Fiyero's head snapped around in the direction that the man had looked at and dropped the rock he had still been holding. He didn't need so much as a second to process what it was he didn't want to see.

Elphaba's head jerked up from her son's face at her lover's anguished roar of grief which echoed in the valley. She turned her head to see Fiyero throw himself to the ground and hunch over. When he straightened again she felt the blood drain from her face for as he did so the green woman saw the unmistakable scarlet locks fall over his arm as a fair-skinned head lolled back limply.

"No…" Elphaba breathed.

Their daughter was not a pretty sight. Her skin was puckered and marred around gash wounds resembling runes of some kind that ran across her face, neck, collarbone and bare arms. Parts of her pale skin were smeared a pink colour from her blood, the same blood that covered the howling shell of a man huddled only a few feet from her body.

Fiyero clenched his teeth against the sobbing cry of denial that escaped as he searched in vain for a pulse in his daughter's neck just as his lover had done for their son. In doing so his fingers grazed over the mysterious cuts etched into her cold, pale skin and came away with the same red stain which covered Xorthion. Fiyero's hand shook as it pushed a strand of scarlet hair off the still face. Tears clouded his vision as he clutched Rhonaraye's lifeless form to him, her body pliant and limp, her arm flapping slightly at the quick motion. The former scarecrow held her to him in a grieving embrace and rocked back and forth slightly, his fingers weaving into the scarlet hair. If he had been in a more level-headed state he may have noticed that the crimson scalp was already damp when he began to leak his own tears onto it.

"You can't be dead!" Fiyero sobbed "You can't! You're my daughter! I'm not supposed to bury _you!_ Please, _please_…you can finally see what I really look like…you have to see..."

For minutes he alternated ordering and pleading with the corpse but it made no difference. Rhonaraye's skin remained cold, her body limp, her face immobile. Elphaba had also started to cry as she clung to Liir and occasionally yelled an anguished plea for assistance. People responded to it and found them relatively quickly. A team of nurses and medics rushed to dig what was left of Liir and started assessing him then and there. They carted him off with a sense of urgency and left his mother still sitting there in shock until someone remembered to wrap a blanket around her and telling her (without being entirely about the truthfulness of the statement) that her son was going to be alright. At this the green woman nodded numbly as she clutched the blanket around her with her blood-stained fingers, trembling.

"She's gone…" Elphaba breathed, "Again…I've lost her again…"

The green witch didn't move until someone put a great deal of effort into coaxing her to do so. When asked later she wouldn't be able to remember who it was, but the fact that they were accompanied by Kynot and a small group of guards managed to break through her shock a little. The faceless person put a second blanket around her shoulders and hauling her up to her feet. Someone might have made a comment about her looking different but few noted or cared at the moment. That conversation would come later.

People weren't in as much of a hurry to see to the other half of the family. There was nothing they could do for the young woman, and not much more that they could really do for her parents either, particularly not with her father refusing to let anyone remove her body from his grasp.

Kynot appeared to be the exception to this rule. He hopped over to where the now-young man knelt and looked him over briefly. He didn't remark on his new human state, but did notice. He was a soldier. Death was a part of battle. He knew that and so had had also both known that the living were of greater concern than those who had washed their hands of this world and screeched an order for the pale man in the corner to be dealt with. Yes, he and the young redhead had known a lot of things before the end. They'd both known how this battle was going to draw to a close, though the Veteran wouldn't be telling anyone that if he was never asked. The Eagle shifted his attention to said fallen weapon for a moment. The mage's dead body was not a pleasing sight, but he had seen much worse. She still managed to retain some shred of macabre dignity in her demise, something that not all corpses managed to accomplish. The Eagle shook his head and hopped closer to Fiyero, brushing a wing against the man's shoulder.

"She died well, son." he said. The man shook his wing off. He was not entirely deterred and continued. "Let them take her..."

"NO!" Fiyero growled, jerking into a hunched position that shielded his daughter from them. He looked around at the medics, at their pitying stares-all of which were directed at him. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. He was done crying, but no where near ready to let her go, not even for a moment. Instead he looked down at Rhonaraye's face one more time as he threaded one arm under her knees, his other arm still cradling her shoulders. He didn't know how he did it, but somehow he managed to find the physical and mental strength to lift and carry her all the way across the valley to the medical bay. The crowd that had gathered parted for him as he carried his daughter for the first and last time.

* * *

**Review please. **


	43. Epilogue Part 1

_**AN: Alright, yes. Yet another unreasonably long wait and yet another split up chapter. In short, there is still one more installment in the epilogue, but only one. Scout's Honor. This is also the 'casualty list' chapter. In other words, the first part of the chapter includes brief summaries of the death-scenes that were cut from previous chapters because the story was already too long.  
**__** Anyways, you are all awesome for sticking with me through this whole thing. Only one more update to go!**_

_**Epilogue Part 1: Loss. **_

At first, Liir thought he was a ghost. He certainly felt like one and was as immaterial as such a spectre was often described. His misery and difficult memory fit with what tales he remembered as well. He remembered climbing the stone stairs, agony, and then a rumbling beneath him and then…nothing.

Well, not _nothing_. Next thing he knew he was floating. He found himself on the battlefield, seeing his mother rushing towards the crumbled tower and hearing screaming. The next thing he knew, he was in the infirmary staring at, well himself. He'd never looked worse, too. He could see why his Aunt was in such a state fussing over him, though he didn't ever recall the glamorous Good Witch of the North ever looking quite so beat up either, not even when she had fled her husband so long ago back in the Emerald City. Her Godson's spectre had barely recognised her at first. His mother, on the other hand, was another story. If it hadn't been for the fact that her face was grimy, her beautiful black hair a matted, scraggly mess and that she appeared almost catatonic, he would have thought that she had never looked younger.

Perhaps this was the moment that he died. Ghosts were supposed to do that, weren't they? Oh, he didn't know. Rhonaraye would... ...

Liir was unable to even complete the thought; it was as if the mere mention of her rubbed salt into some kind of painful wound. He staggered away from the notion and felt his mind clear a little before looking around again, taking in the sight of his godmother sobbingly trying to comfort his mother, no doubt making her feel worse if she was getting through to the green woman at all. Liir decided that he didn't want to see this. He walked out of the room—was walk the right word? Did ghosts walk? Did _nearly_-ghosts walk?

Whatever it was he did, he left the room.

He found himself in what looked like the morgue, or rather, the makeshift morgue. It seemed that people were actually bringing back bodies; something usually unfeasible or at the very least unwise during war. However, this wasn't exactly a normal end of a battle. It was rather safe to do some collecting of corpses when the enemy you had been fighting had to get rather creative just to hurt you. Just as Rhonaraye had said; blows missed by wide margins, shots did the same or else got stuck in the barrels of the guns they were fired out of (not that the guns were much use at the moment considering that most of them had been completely warped by the same spell that was causing the difficulties), and kicks grazed rather than impacted. It was all simply too much effort for the weary soldiers. The only ones still able to hurt one another were the turncoats, strangely enough. But there weren't really enough of them to continue a whole war and had been pulled apart by their comrades. The whole thing made some of the already war-weary individuals wonder why they had even started fighting.

Just as Liir…_entered_, a couple of hysterical munchkins blustered into the infirmary. Between the scratched-up young men they carried the body of a woman much larger than either munchkin on a stretcher. The bruised and battered corpse (for this individual was most certainly not alive with a dent in her head that size) wore a rather pretty goblin-made dress which was filthy and torn. Spread around the dusty shoulders was a mop of messy brown curls and on the woman's feet was a pair of impossibly still-glittering ruby slippers. It was upon this last observation that Liir realized with a twinge of pity that it was Dorothy.

According to the account of the munchkins (and then later Muhlama as she followed them in), the woman had been found beneath the ruins of the tower. Later still Annette would add her own account to the tale of Dorothy's demise; of how she had dragged the earth-woman out of the tower as per her friend's request. She was very candid about how she had wholly given up on her when they got out of the tower when the Brunette's whining had grated on her last frayed nerve and her struggling had nearly gotten both of them killed. Needless to say that Dorothy's incredible powers of inducing protective feelings had finally found their match. Annette had not been willing to die for the sake of her hysterics, no matter how founded or unfounded they might have been.

The matter of Dorothy's death, much like her life in Oz, would always be a controversial one. Her most adamant supporters would always insist that she had gotten over her hysterics (which were most assuredly induced by some form of dark magic that had clearly been bending her to Xorthion's will) and had been rushing back to heroically rescue the young mage when tragedy had struck and so cruelly slain her. Other, far less generous, speculations included that she had indeed been going back for the purpose of rescue—of the Mage Xorthion that is, still harboring under the delusion that he was going to send her back to Kansas; that she hadn't possessed enough sense to run away from the building when she had the chance or, far more likely in Liir's opinion, that she had simply been frightened and picked a rather poor hiding place. All in all though, few missed the irony of her departure from the realm of the living. She had entered this world by landing a house on the head of the ruby slippers' previous owner, and had left it when someone landed a tower on her head. Maybe she had finally returned to that Can-sas place after all, that was what Liir hoped for her sake. She'd seemed to think it was a better place for some reason and her life had not been a happy on in Oz, that was certain.

A few days later spectre-Liir would watch as someone removed the fabled slippers from Dorothy's feet, in spite protests from her most loyal fans that she should be interred with them. After a brief skirmish over the trifle a battered Glinda had stepped in and taken them. Since she had been the one to gift the earth-girl with the shoes in question all those years ago nobody argued with her. She gave them to Elphaba in private as the green woman sat by her son's bedside. What nobody but the two friends present would know was that the green woman looked at them for a long time in her hands. The shoes that started it all…Well, maybe not all of it, but they had certainly prompted enough problems. The Witch's thin fingers had dug into the red fabric and in one swift motion she got up and threw them into the fire with all her might, a yell of anguish and fury erupting from her lips as she did so. The two women had watched them burn silently as they hissed and sparked. The shoes didn't go down without a fight as the colour of the flames changed every few seconds as the magic impregnated within them struggled to prevent their destruction to no avail. Elphaba watched them burn silently at first, but after a few minutes she sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands and did not resist when her friend pulled her into a comforting hug.

What brought more of an ache to Liir's heart (figuratively speaking) than the stupid red shoes was the fate of the Bears of his adoptive, extended family. When someone had come looking for Candle to tell her of Liir's fate she had been sitting next to one of the slabs where one of the large Grizzlies lay. The quadling was clutching one of Dr. Akota's large paws in both of her hands, her expression indicating a grief too shocked for tears as she clutched the furry appendage which was attached to a badly burned, burly body lying lifeless on the metal table. He had apparently hurried out of the shelter to tend a badly wounded patient just as a missile had exploded next to him. It was so wrong. Someone that kind and that brave and that good shouldn't die so horribly. So futilely. The patient had died too.

Candle snapped out of her grieved trance when someone mentioned Liir's name. With a final, long, grieved look at her mentor she finally let out a sob and then limped off towards where Liir's body was. As she did so, she passed the spot where Muhlama was standing over the shaggy form of Ralimla, hanging her head in grief and guilt. The large Bear's ruff around her neck was matted with red where she had taken a bullet for the reckless Princess. Correction, now she was Queen of her small tribe with her father stabbed through the heart by a Goblin sword which was why the Bear had been so determined to keep the white Tigress alive. The Cat's father was lying next to Ralimla with his paws clutched regally over the stab wound that had killed him. As the spectre exited the complex and continued to wander he found more deaths to add to the list, including some rather unexpected victims.

Had the spectre not felt so numb he would have been devastated to see that some had not so much as survived the evacuation. Some of the old had simply been too old for such a rushed, harrowing journey and some had been too sick. Among this number was Doctor Dillamond. The old Goat had laid down for some sleep while the group rested and then had failed to respond to Zach's summons for him to wake up. A peaceful passing. The poor little Mule, though. He was so young and so heartbroken…and the worst was still to reach his ears.

For some reason he found himself in a cell next. The door to this cell opened and two burly guards marched into the room dragging a howling, wailing prisoner between them. The man being dragged was clearly being very difficult even though he was not struggling against anyone in particular. When he tossed his head back with a nonsensical plea for death or some sort Liir recognised the pale, chiseled features and bright golden eyes that were somewhat distorted behind the well of tears. His guards didn't heed him and shoved him into the cell, closing the door behind them. They stood there for a few minutes, apparently trying to hurt him but found themselves unable to. Just as the spell dictated, their blows went wide, their kicks tripped them up or barely glanced the prisoner. They were apparently able to manhandle as long as they didn't endanger the life of their prisoner (which meant that convenient strangulation was out of the picture) but were otherwise hand-tied in this instance. With growls of frustration the pair stormed out, slamming the door behind them and locking it. Xorthion didn't try to escape. He just kept slamming the stone floor with his hand,, howling the same disjointed phrases.

The Spectre-Liir 'sat down' opposite the mage and watched him. For hours he rammed his body against the bars, the walls, the floor. The spectre sensed that he wasn't trying to escape, though. He just seemed to want the physical pain to numb the emotional agony. It wouldn't work, though. It never did. It didn't bring her back either. After a night of this Xorthion, the man sometimes known as Tristan, seemed to have exhausted himself and huddled into a corner. For days he neither slept nor ate. He alternated between his tantrums and a mild catatonia. By the end of the week he was a wreck. As such, the guards became lax. One day he accepted his glass of water and smashed it on the floor. Before the burly guards could stop him he had seized a piece of glass and sliced through his wrists at which point the large men did manage to tackle him and wrench it out of his hand as they called for a medic. The prisoner was sedated and restrained to his bed in the infirmary.

Liir 'left' around that point. He was tired of this and wandered away from those he knew completely. He didn't want to see how they had suffered, how they were suffering. He saw a great deal as he ghosted aimlessly through Oz. He saw a great deal but put little effort into understanding it in his shock. He saw what was left of the farms that had once boasted the title 'Breadbasket of Oz'; he saw a waterfall where a Saint was supposed to have retreated into years and years ago, cutting herself off from the world. Liir couldn't help but feel that she'd had the right of it when she did so. He saw a little boy being ordered around by an old hag of a woman and cuffed over the side of the head. The boy turned at one point and seemed to look at him, almost as though he could see the shadow of a spectre drifting past, but then the old woman had barked at him and he continued with his chores and Liir continued drifting. After that he saw some more carnage and finally some more beauty. He saw that the flower Xorthion had created appeared to be a hearty one, for there were odd patches of it here and there which seemed to be surviving even the most brutal of droughts and bouts of carnage. After a while, though, he didn't know where he was.

He was lost. That was the best way to put it. He had been lost like this before, long ago. But he'd had something to keep him, well, tethered so he supposed he couldn't have been quite lost like this before for that tie was gone now. It was gone and it hurt to even think about it. He didn't know how long he was gone and after a while it was difficult to even tell where he was going. He just wanted to go…somewhere. He wanted to follow wherever that tether had gone; he felt that would be a much nicer place but…something was keeping him from doing that. Every once in a while he heard these wafting notes of such beautiful music.

He decided, after a while—he didn't know how long—that perhaps he wasn't dead after all. No, no he wasn't dead. He couldn't be. He was far too stuck to be a ghost. He kept being called back. It wasn't a good explanation for a theory but he just knew somewhere, somehow, that he wasn't dead. After a time he even found that he recognised places he found himself shadowing.

No, no he definitely wasn't dead. He started hearing his own breathing in the back of his mind, feeling a faint sensation of discomfort but also of warmth, of touch. The closer he got to the music the closer he got to these sensations and the dimmer his vision became. Finally his vision faded to black completely in exchange for the return of the rest of his senses, his hearing taking up most of his attention as the music wafted into his ears.

He was also aware of pain. His whole body hurt. He couldn't stifle the groan that escaped his lips. It seemed to have an immediate effect on the people around him for he heard low voices and chairs scuffing against the floor. These sounds were muted, distant, almost as though he was hearing them from the bottom of a well. The hand that gently held one of his tightened its grip and the sounds grew louder, clearer, sharper. The music stopped and someone touched his face. He winced but this time forced himself to peel back his eyelids.

At first all he saw was light. It was too bright and forced him to shut his eyes again as people continued to talk around him.

"He's awake…" he heard his mother breath, "Glinda! Glinda he's waking up!"

"Where's Fiyero?" Glinda asked her friend. Her question would go unanswered for at that point Liir tried to open his eyes again.

His vision was blurry, but clearing. He could see his mother's green face standing over him, her long black hair swinging over her shoulder and brushing against his ear. Next to her was Glinda, still sporting a bandage on her raw but obviously healing cheekbone. They looked over to the side as someone stood up; Liir followed suit and saw Candle gripping her dominigan in one hand, her fingers bandaged and bleeding from playing for so long. His eyes met hers and he somehow managed to force his aching face to stretch into a smile

"We should…really…stop meeting like this." He croaked. A tear rolled down her cheek as she laughed once and knelt down at his bedside to gently kiss him.

_**88888888888888888888**_

When he wasn't with direct company, that is, if someone wasn't speaking to him and asking for his full attention, Liir put up no pretext. Candle's music had brought him out of his coma, induced in part (and certainly prolonged by) the shock and emotional wound of his twin's death but it did not mean that his time spent wandering around Oz as that not-ghost had helped him adjust to the throbbing chasm in his psyche left by his dead sibling. In some ways it was even more painful than his physical injuries, which had taken advantage of his hiatus from his body to start healing. Frequently he would have bouts where he was dangerously close to catatonic, staring off into space for hours at a time. He wasn't interested in getting better, no matter which area of healing was in question. He made an effort with his family and Candle, but it wasn't whole hearted: more for their benefit than anything else, really.

He had missed the funerals. All of them. Most had happened whilst he'd been unconscious: Dr. Dillamond, Ralimla, Dr. Akota, even Muhlama's father had been laid to rest before he had awoken. Dorothy's ceremony had been only a day or so after he had come out of his 2-week coma. There was only one left now.

Rhonaraye would have hated what they were planning for her: a big, state funeral full of pomp and circumstance. Her brother had already heard what some of the events were planned for. It was disgusting. He could see it now; people who had been openly contemptuous of her parading around in their finest black muslin mourning outfits wailing into their silk handkerchiefs about how they had lost such a dear friend. There would be speeches given by people who would swear they had been her closest confidante who in reality wouldn't be able to tell you what she liked to eat for lunch, let alone her deepest desires. Her name would be plastered everywhere, all sorts of nonsense would be spread until no one would remember whether she'd _(insert something in here)_. Within a few decades no one would recognise fact from fiction and within a couple of centuries scholars would start questioning whether or not she had ever even existed or if she was just another piece of folklore. She would become a symbol, a metaphor, used to explain away college theses everywhere and talked about with the air of awe-inspired myth. It was everything the redhead had feared.

Had he truly made an effort, Liir would have easily been able to attend the ceremony. The press would have loved it, undoubtedly. The grieving, "crippled", grievously injured brother making a scene or— perhaps even better!— being 'a strong, but silent pillar of strength' or some other shit like that. He might have managed to walk with a cane or a crutch, perhaps, had he been very determined. He certainly could have had someone wheel him in on a chair like the one his aunt had used decades ago, before her death, if he'd wanted to. He didn't want to, though. It was bad enough that his sister's corpse was being made a spectacle of when the last thing she would have wanted was to be paraded around, in life or death. Her desire had been to die in her sleep and either be cremated or elsewise buried in a small ceremony with only those who had truly known her, though even in life she had known that might not be feasible, considering her unwanted fame as a Mage.

There were other reasons aside from moral outrage (which if he was honest was probably exaggerated right now, not that he felt like being honest with himself) as to why he didn't want to go. His injuries were an excuse; they were healing. What he wouldn't admit to himself, however, was that somewhere deep down he felt that going to Rhonaraye's funeral, seeing her body, hearing people talk about her in the past tense and watching her disappear into the ground, would mean that she was dead. Somehow, if he didn't go, she wouldn't have to be gone forever. He wouldn't have to accept it.

His parents went, of course. That was what he had been told by his mother. He hadn't seen his father yet. According to what he could get out of Glinda not many people had; he'd taken a leaf out of his lover's book and started hiding away in towers by himself. Elphaba kept sending the monkeys in to check that he hadn't done anything…rash. She herself didn't seem to be eager to intrude. The green woman feared that if she did, it would start a conversation that she couldn't handle at the moment. She'd lost so much, they all had, and she didn't know if she could bear losing Fiyero (again) too at this point.

The other person Liir hadn't seen anything of was Zach. According to Glinda, the Mule was avoiding all company save for the dog, Killyjoy, who never left his side these days. Liir was torn about Zach, about whether or not he wanted to see him. He had a feeling that the Mule blamed him and Liir didn't necessarily think him incorrect. He didn't want to have to face his guilt. All Liir wanted to do was wallow in his shame and let the world do what it would to itself. Unfortunately, there were a few who weren't willing to do this.

Candle was one. She had argued with him over the funeral.

"Funerals aren't for the dead, Liir!" she had snapped an hour before it was scheduled to start when he had voiced his distaste for this hypocrisy and cited how much his twin would have despised it. Liir had been shocked by this outburst and could only stare at her as his mouth opened and closed with no sound coming out. The Nurse had gotten to her feet angrily and started to pick up her bag

"I thought you would have at least gone for your parents' sake if not your own." The Quadling had grumbled in mingled irritation and disappointment as she strode out the door. Liir had sat there in shock and indignation for a few moments before resentment started to bubble up inside him. What did she know? None of them understood, none of them. The only one who would have was gone, and she was the reason he felt this way. He turned over in his bed and feigned sleep so that he wouldn't be disturbed. It wasn't long before pretence became reality.

By the time he woke up it was over. He didn't want to talk to anyone, which worked quite well since no one came by except for his grandparents who dropped by for a brief visit. Even then he was spared having to do too much talking as the monarchs were still too busy reeling from the double whammy they had received in discovering simultaneously that the granddaughter they had barely known was gone and the son they thought long dead still lived. They weren't sure whether to be bereaved or ecstatic. Neither choice would really have made much difference though. Either way they maintained their courtly stoic expressions as best as they could. They also redundantly passed on the information that their son was not handling the loss well before they had to return to the Vinkus. As if anyone needed to be told that Fiyero wasn't handling it well. Then again, what could be considered 'handling it well' for someone who had just lost the daughter they had loved and raised for nearly 23 years?

Had Doctor Akota not been six feet under, he might have coaxed Liir more effectively into rehab-based exercises to regain his mobility more quickly. As it was, with Candle angry at him, no one tried to pull him out of his stupor for days. Liir lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. Sometimes he ate what they brought him and sometimes he didn't. His mother made her visits, but they were largely silent. No one disturbed him for days. When someone eventually did though, she shocked everyone—with both her identity and her actions.

_**888888**_

Annette stormed into the infirmary and held up an abrupt, silencing hand to anyone who tried to stop her as she charged into Liir's room and unceremoniously grabbed fistfuls of the blankets that covered him and wrenched them off with one great heave.

"Annette! What in Lurline's name—"

"Get up!" she snapped

"What in the seven hells are you doing?" he demanded indignantly

"What any other member of your family would do if they weren't otherwise occupied!" The former blonde snapped. "Now** get up**!"

"No." Liir said stubbornly. "I can't."

"More like won't!" Annette said shortly as she seized the untouched crutches from the corner of the room and thrust them at him.

"So what if is 'won't'?" he shot back. "You have no idea what this feels like!"

"Well maybe I don't!" his ex yelled at him sharply "Maybe no one does and blah, blah, blah. But you know what Liir? You're not the only one who's suffering right now!"

"I know that!" He exclaimed indignantly

"Then start acting like it!" Annette snarled as she leaned in towards him aggressively, her fists digging into the mattress "You're not the only one who lost someone, Liir! How dare you pull that stunt last week? You were awake, you could have parked your behind in a Kumbrica-cursed wheelchair if you'd needed to, which I don't think you did or do by the way! So where the hell were you?" her anger puzzled Liir, but his bitter resentment of her lecture overpowered any curiosity as to her behaviour and he turned his head away with an expression of dark disgust

"She would have hated the circus they made of her. All those people with their black muslin wailing into their silk handkerchiefs and going on and on when they either didn't know her or openly scorned her! Even now they're talking behind her back about the spell she did, but they're oh so happy to shed a tear for a camera. It was revolting, she would have hated it! She never wanted any of that—"

"She's dead, Liir!" Annette snapped, taking him aback with the harshness of her statement and tone. She was the first person to use "the 'd' word" with him in regards to Rhonaraye, and she did so unflinchingly, almost aggressively. She straightened and crossed her arms over her chest, her expression hard. "She's dead and not in a position to give a Kumbrica-cursed rat's ass about what they do with her body. Funerals are for the living Liir, and do you really think she'd want this?" she swept her hand dismissively to indicate his general state. The young man looked away angrily.

"You don't know what she'd want." He growled bitterly, though he was starting to lose some of the vehemence with which he had started this argument. Annette ignored him and continued her barrage.

"I know that if she were here she'd be doing exactly what I'm doing except that she'd have done it days ago!" His ex barked. Liir had nothing to say to this. He of all people knew that it was true. His sister wouldn't have allowed him to sit and sulk for so long (no matter how hypocritical her criticisms would be) and in all honesty her 'wake-up call' would have been just as blunt as the one he was receiving right now, perhaps even harsher. She had been capable of downright cruelty if she felt the situation called for it. He wasn't able to linger on this train of thought for long as his high-school girlfriend continued to lay into him.

"How do you think your family felt when you left them to deal with that 'circus', huh? What about Candle, did you think of her? She had to go through Akota's burial on her own whilst worrying about you in your coma and you know how much she loved that Bear! Now she's had to go through another ceremony trying to look after other people who don't really feel like company at the moment. And what about your parents? They just lost one of their children and you, their sole remaining offspring, is acting like they've done something to him. And you know what? If you were paying attention to anyone other than yourself you would see that they really don't need that kind of fuel for the hellish implosion that their relationship is hurtling towards!"

"You think I don't ca—"

"And what. _About_. _**Zach**_?" Annette snarled. Her words this time (while still harsh and unyielding) were slow and measured with distinct pauses to ensure they hit home. Liir didn't say anything but his body language answered for him, really. Had it been a member of his family they might have been able to interpret his reaction perfectly, as it was Annette only got it half right, noting the discomfort and tension. She re-crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's right. Haven't thought about him, have you? The kid your sister left behind. She left Killyjoy with him you know. The stupid dog won't leave Zach's side now and they're both shut up in his room. Lurline knows what some heartless brat said to him but he is refusing to go to school and doesn't want to see anyone. He's even barricaded the door! And before you say it, he apparently picked some stuff up from her growing up, because he had the mind to take food with him so that his stomach won't be dragging him out of there any time soon. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

For a long time Liir said nothing. Annette had not been entirely correct. He _had_ thought about the Mule. He had just been too guilt-ridden to try and face the child. It wasn't something he was proud of, but at the moment, he feared Zach. He feared facing up to his own inadequacies, his failure to save Rhonaraye. He looked up at Annette, his eyes silently pleading with her. Her gaze was hard and unyielding.

To look away from it he took stock of her hairstyle. She had cut it since he had last seen her. Lurline, when had that been? Three weeks before the battle? Yes, it was at their last party. Back then her hair had been a vivid green with the streak of blue and went down to her back. Now it was almost more radical and eccentric: most of it was now brown and had been shaped into a sleek helmet that followed her jawline. Liir suspected that this may indeed be her natural hair colour. The exception was one longer strand that went down one side of her face to shoulder level. This streak was the same shade of blue that it had been for the last 7 years and the one aspect of her hairstyle that had not changed in that time period. He wrung his hands slightly in reflection on the crutch that she had shoved into his hands mere seconds earlier.

Annette watched him as he thought this over. She did not help him as he slowly took a firmer grip on his mobility aid and planted in the floor, hoisting himself up with a groan. Only when he stood did she step to his side and help him take a step forward. He walked all the way to the door to his room and out to the hospital hallway. There she pulled one of the wheeled chairs out for him to sit in. He sank into it, feeling (with a slight burn of embarrassment) like an old man with his crutch and his chair and his muscles trembling with exertion from those few steps. Annette wheeled him out of the wing with the resounding, fast-paced clicks of her heels echoing around them.

They travelled through the building in silence for a while, people parting for them if they started to head towards a group. These individuals' conversations came to a halt when they heard the whirring of the chair's wheels and the clicks of Annette's shoes. They watched them come and go in a way that might have made Liir uncomfortable if he'd had the energy to care. As it was, he didn't. Instead he thought about all those funerals he had missed. Most of them hadn't been his fault, considering he'd been in a coma, but the one he had just shirked _had _been his choice and it was this instance where his absence had been the most shameful. His ex was right.

"Who gave it?" he asked suddenly while they walked through a currently deserted corridor. It was the first time that he had even registered that he was, for lack of a better word, home: in the Emerald Palace. He supposed that somewhere he knew that he had to have been in the E.C, but hadn't given it much thought.

"Who gave what?" Annette asked

"The Eulogy." He replied. Again there was silence for a while. It was several seconds before she responded.

"The main one?' she enquired. He nodded, aware that there would have been multiple speeches at such a state event. There was a pause before she responded.

"I did."

The answer both surprised and pleased him.

"What did you say?" he asked her, curious. He couldn't see her but he knew that she shrugged.

"A lot of things." Annette said finally "I told the story of how we met, hated each other on the spot until forced to see a different side of one another. I told a couple of other short anecdotes…then I told them about the last time I saw her, about how she saved my life. I told them that she wasn't fearless, but that she was brave and that there was a difference. A big difference,"

Liir nodded.

"What else?" he asked her quietly.

"I said…I said that I didn't know her nearly as well I would have liked. That while I was a friend, I didn't know whether she would consider me a close friend but that I did know this; she wasn't someone to cross. She was the fiercest friend that I had ever encountered, that she zealously guarded what she loved and that she could be ruthless when she wanted to. What did I say? Right, that "She was the kind of person who, if you crossed her, would quite comfortably watch you crash and burn…but the also the kind of person who would save you from the flames if you asked her to."

Liir put his hands out and placed them on the wheels of his chair to slow its motion and turned around to face Annette.

"Thank you," he said simply. In one speech she had done her best to carry out her former roommate's wishes: to be remembered as the person, not the magic. The architect smiled at him thinly before continuing their walk down the long hallway on their way to see Zach.

It was well past time for the healing to begin.

* * *

_** Okay, so there is the first part of the epilogue. It was very Liir-heavy, yes, but rest assured, we will be seeing more of Elphaba, Fiyero and Glinda in the next chapter, along with Zach, Candle and Tristan/Xorthion. I will do my best to get it finished and posted as soon as I can! As usual, please review!**_

_**Now for my Anonymous Reviewer:**_

_**FriFro: ***Chuckles* yes I'm still here and I'm sorry it has been such a wait, particularly when you aren't even getting the full ending! And also, yes. I killed off my O.C. To be honest, she was slated to go from day one. One of my earliest inspirations for this story oh-so-long-ago was the bit with Fiyero finding her body on the battlefield. And I would never get bored of reviews! I just love it that you stuck around for the whole thing for this! Unfortunately, I am one of the few people left it seems among my age group who doesn't have facebook, so I can't add you. If I could, however, I would! _


	44. Epilogue Part 2

_**AN: Alright then, we are FINALLY done! I know, it seems weird that I am finally finishing this, its just kept going and going and going…Anyways, I was looking back at some of the earlier Author's notes that I left and wow did I make myself into the BIGGEST LIAR! How many times did I say "We're in the home stretch now, just a couple more chapters"? Well, sorry about that. Hope you enjoyed it anyway!  
Well, this started out as an edit intended to get rid of the typos in the original, but instead it turned into a re-write with possibly even more typos than the first one. Ah well. Sooo, there were major changes done after all, but actually I think this version is better than the first one. Sad thing is though I'm STILL not satisfied with it, I think there is a lot of room for improvement...but I guess there always is. Oh well. I just have to leave it now. There's a little thank you message at the end of this very long chapter to all my wonderfully loyal reviewers and readers. **_

_**Epilogue Part 1: Moving On**_

Killyjoy was pacing restlessly. He refused to leave Zach's side but he was also accustomed to far more activity. He would alternate between these bouts of pacing and long stretches of complete inactivity where he would stare at the window for long periods of time, whining a pitiful, sorrowful whine. His companion, the Mule Colt, would try to comfort him when he pined for his mistress. The truth was that Zach pined with him. The only difference was that he understood that she was never coming back, none of them were. Killyjoy didn't. Not yet. Rhonaraye had never been away from the dog for this long before; he had been the creature to accompany her (almost) everywhere. He had gone places with her that she wouldn't even take her twin, been with her at times she had refused to see any other living creature.

People— adults— kept trying to make Zach "accept" and "understand" that the woman who had cared for him all his life wasn't coming back, neither were the wise old Goat or the burly, loving Bears. They seemed to have told themselves that he was in shock and had somehow convinced himself that his mother was going to miraculously return somehow. How stupid did they think he was? _He_ wasn't the one who thought she was coming back, but there were loads of people who were.

The truth was, he'd known that night the base was attacked right before the evacuation that he was never going to see her again. She'd come into his room and stayed for maybe 10 minutes. He would remember those 10 minutes for as long as he lived.

She'd come in and sat down with him and Killyjoy. For a full minute— maybe 2— she said nothing, just looked at him. When she had started to talk she'd told him how proud she was of him, and also how sorry she was that he was going to go through a hard time, that some of the other children might be cruel to him. She told him to be brave and hold his ground and apologized again, for she wasn't going to be there to protect him; she was going to be leaving him again and this time she might not be back for a long time.

"_But…you are coming back, aren't you?" Zach asked_

"_I'm going to try." Rhonaraye replied, stroking his ear gently "But I'm also going to do what's best for you." _

"_You are!" Zach exclaimed angrily "You're what's best for me! Why don't you ever stay? Don't go!" _

"_I have to Zach," She said, giving him a kiss on the forehead as she rose. He lunged after her and threw his forelegs around her waist, knowing that she was saying goodbye. _

"_Mamma please, don't go!" _

Zach shook his head at the memory. He had never called her that aloud before that moment, but he'd thought it before. That was who she was to him. It had been an attempt to emotionally blackmail her into staying with him. He'd been desperate. It hadn't worked though. She'd held him close, clung to him for a minute or two murmuring comforting things to him, telling him over and over that he was loved. As a matter of fact, that was the one thing she'd asked him not to let anyone convince him of; that he hadn't been loved. That she hadn't loved him. She said nothing about anything else, just told him to make his own opinions and decisions. Then she had left.

Neither Zach nor Killyjoy would ever see her again.

A sharp rap on the door snapped the Colt out of his reverie. He snorted in disdain and turned his head away from the door. The knocking continued. Killyjoy barked after the third set of raps on the wood.

"Zach?" A familiar, muffled voice said from the other side "Zach, it's me. Liir."

"I know it's you." Zach grumbled in reply "Go away."

"Can't do that." Liir replied, leaning against the door. "Annette has my cane. Won't give it back till I say that we said something to one another. C'mon, Zach, you can't leave a buddy hanging!"

The Mule snorted again and shook his head. There was a long pause where neither of them said anything. Zach made no move to open the door.

"Zach," Liir said "You're not the only one who's grieving."

The door flew open. Liir stumbled when he lost his support and fell to the floor with a growl of pain. The Mule was standing over him.

"Neither are you." the Colt said darkly. The young man sighed and pulled himself up into a sitting position as the young Mule grumbled "At least _I_ paid my respects."

"No," he agreed, "I'm not. Everyone lost somebody to the war and I _have_ been acting like a child. I didn't go to a single funeral or offer a single word of condolence. If I'm going to defend myself though, I _was_ in a coma for most of them."

"Not all of them." Zach replied coldly. Liir's face fell. He sighed as he looped one arm casually around his knee in a jock-like slouch.

"You're right. I know that." He said "_But_, me acting like a kid doesn't give you the excuse to. Locking yourself away up here? That really what you're going with?"

"Why not? _She_ did it often enough." Zach retorted.

"Doesn't make it any less childish." Liir informed him without missing a beat. Zach looked murderous but Liir continued "It was childish and overdramatic then and it's childish and overdramatic now."

The Mule looked as though he were ready to shoot steam out of his ears. He snorted and pawed the ground, looking away from Liir angrily again. The young man didn't look away from _him_, however. He watched for everything about the Colt's posture and what he had amassed in this little hide-out of his. Thing was, this wasn't like the mule. It was the first time Zach had ever imitated his guardian in this way; he may have had his difficulties with some of his peers but overall he was a social Creature. Something had to have prompted these actions.

"What made you come up here?" he asked "Something had to have set you off. What was it?"

The Mule ground his teeth sullenly.

"Don't pretend you don't know."

"That's hard to do, 'cause I don't."

"Stop it, you knew then too. How could you not?"

"Know what, Zach?"

"What she was going to do! You telling me that Kynot knew and you didn't?"

This came as a surprise to Liir, and it showed on his expression. There was a tense silence for several moments and he tried to process this.

"_What_?" he finally asked.

"He knew." The Mule repeated "He let it slip when trying to sell me some crap after her funeral about his 'respect' for her. Apparently they had something planned for months, right after your stupid vision at some meeting."

Liir sat there dumbly for a minute, blinking, a distant look in his eye as he concentrated on the snippets of memory he had received from his sister during her final minutes. He hadn't been able to make sense of many of the flashes of events and emotions that were not his.

"_Kynot_?" he muttered to himself with a frown.

*Flashback*

…_Discreetly the young woman sidled up to the Eagle, Kynot and subtly redirected him with a hand on his shoulder. _

"_What do you think you're doing?" he demanded indignantly _

"_We need to have a talk," she stated. _

The scene in Liir's head morphed from the hallway to a small mine chamber, abandoned save for the young woman and the Eagle.

"_Alright, talk." Kynot said. _

"_You can't win this." Rhonaraye said simply. "Not the way we're doing it now. Mother's a match for any wizard they can come up with but with Xorthion we're never going to get out of this tie. He needs to be taken out of the equation." _

"_This could have been discussed at the meeting." Kynot grumbled. Rhonaraye shook her head. _

"_No, it couldn't." she replied, starting to slowly pace. "You see, the only person who has any chance of getting near him is me." _

"_And your family would cause a real riot about that, wouldn't they?" Kynot scoffed with disdain_

"_Them and anyone else who wants a favor from me some day." Raye agreed _

"_So why talk to me?" _

"_Because you don't give a damn so long as you win." She said. Kynot looked taken aback at this, but said nothing before the memory began to swirl out of focus. _

When the images cleared again Kynot and Rhonaraye were now standing within a room that Liir recognised as a room in the base. Again they were alone with the door closed and conversing quietly so that their voices wouldn't carry. Raye was standing by the window chewing absently on a thumbnail, looking at the Eagle's reflection in the glass.

"_How will you do it?"Kynot asked gruffly_

"_All you need to know is that I'll remove Xorthion from the equation along with all the protective enchantments he's had placed on the Goblin army. After that it's up to you to deal with rest. I'll be gone too."_

"_No details, then?" Kynot insisted. _

"_Need to know." Raye replied quietly _

"_You __**do**__ have a plan to destroy him, don't you?" he inquired, though there was surprisingly no condescension in his tone. There was a slight pause before Rhonaraye answered, though she neglected to turn to face him. _

"_Of course I do." She told him quietly. _

"_Well, good." The General said, turning to leave. _

"_Kynot," Raye called after him, halting the Eagle mid-hop before uttering one demand "Zach." _

"_What about him?" _

"_He's to have every opportunity." She demanded "He's not going to be paying for any of my mistakes."_

"_He is not yours to taint." Kynot replied. The statement was harsh, but his tone was strangely…comforting "He is the son of two Animals martyred for our cause." _

"_And the rest of my family?"_

"_If they fight with us, there won't be any problems."_

"_One more thing, Kynot." She said "Once I'm gone don't look for me. Don't track me down, don't ask questions and never try to find me. I get rid of the mage. The rest is your job. Agreed?" _

_The Eagle nodded once. The redhead gave a small sigh of relief._

"_Thank you."…_

…the scene changed again_…_

…_Now they were standing in the middle of the hallway, Rhonaraye at the window ready to fly off into the night following the raid. At the open window the young woman paused and looked at the crowd of rebels packing into the corridor around her. Her eyes found the old, battle-worn Eagle among them. A look of understanding briefly corssed his good eye and he gave a nod that would have been imperceptible if one hadn't been looking for it. The Mage turned back to the night sky and jumped… _

_****End of Flashback****_

"They found her will, you know. When we got to the safe spot it was waiting there on the table. By then the battle was half-over, I guess. You'll probably get your share of stuff soon but I got most of it— including Killyjoy."

The Mule's words brought Liir out of his sister's memories and he sat dumbstruck for a moment, trying to process this. He'd had a sense that his sister had planned her actions in advance, but had not anticipated the lengths to which she had gone. He'd known she hadn't planned exclusively on ending her life, but it seemed that she had been intent on ending her involvement in theirs. It hurt to think that she may not have intended ever to reconcile with them had she convinced Xorthion to abandon his plan and therefore survived. Nevertheless, Rhonaraye was not who he should be concentrating on at the moment. Instead, he returned his attention to Zach with a sigh.

"That's really it? That's why you ran off?" He asked "What else was there, Zach?"

Again there was a long pause. Killyjoy whined.

"He put his wing around me. He called me 'son'." The Mule finally spat out. Liir waited. No more came.

"And…?"

"And everyone's been doing that!" Zach snapped, gaining volume as he continued "It's okay, _Son_; Why don't you come have dinner with our family tonight, _Son_; Are you sure you're okay, _Son?_ Everybody suddenly wants to 'be there for me'!"

"Um, Zach, don't take this the wrong way, but that's called being nice."

"Everybody thinks I need a parent!'" Zach yelled, his volume still rising "Well maybe _I don't want any more parents!_ I don't want another father and I damn well don't want another—" he cut himself off and looked to the side angrily, snorting several times as he fought back tears. "I don't want any more parents. I've already had more than my share. I go through them too quickly. Even Dr. Dillamond and Ralimla…"

"None of that was your fault—"

"I don't care!" Zach snapped "I'm a jinx! Anyone who looks after me ends up dead!"

Liir groaned and said nothing for a full minute. Finally he shrugged.

"Okay then. I'll leave you up here. You don't have to come down." He said, hauling himself to his feet.

"What?" Zach asked, confused. Liir shrugged again.

"Well, you can stay up here for the rest of your life. I'm sure we could arrange for you to not have to talk to anyone at all. Don't want to jinx anyone else, right?"

The Mule stared at him, his mouth opening and closing in indignation though no sound came out.

"That is…what you want, isn't it? No annoying talking, no one bothering you, no friends…"

Zach didn't answer, but scuffed his hoof against the floor.

"Your trick is kind of obvious. She used that on me when I was 3." He mumbled grumpily

"Is it working? Cause, you know this isn't what any of them would have wanted." Liir countered. The Mule's flanks heaved and then fell in one great sigh. He ground his flat, herbivorous teeth and snorted before he stood up on his hind legs. Killyjoy stood with him.

"Guess not." He grumbled. He looked down at the young man and extended a hoof. "Need some help getting up?"

Liir nodded with a slight, crooked smile, accepting the Colt's assistance.

8888888

_**Two Months Later**_

"Elphie?" Glinda beckoned as she rapped smartly on her friend's door, "Elphaba, where were you? You were supposed to meet me for breakfast half an hour ago! I got up _early_."

The last sentence was an indignant growl but it was also a jibe. When her friend failed to respond to this, she started to get worried and increased the power of her knuckles on the wood with a frown of concern.

"Elphie, are you alright in there? Elphie? Elphaba Thropp answer m—" the blonde was cut off when the door opened, making her stumble forward a little. She looked down to see the particularly intelligent young female of the Winged Monkey colony standing there, one hand still on the door.

"I'm afraid that Mistress Elphaba is indisposed at the moment." She said very politely.

"Indisposed what do you…" Glinda began trailing off when she heard the violent retching coming from the direction of the bathroom.

"_Again_?" she asked no one in particular, concern apparent in her voice as she shooed away the Monkey's attempts to stop her heading to the washroom. Sure enough, when she opened the door she found the green woman slumped over the toilet bowl, her sides heaving as she tried to catch her breath after losing the contents of her stomach. Elphaba's eyes closed as she leaned her forehead against the cool porcelain of the side of the toilet. The Blonde sighed and walked over to the green woman. She put a hand on her friend's shoulder and slowly knelt down beside her, careful to spread her skirts out around her gracefully as she did so by sheer force of habit.

"Elphie, you need to see a Doctor, this is getting out of hand. Something is wrong." Glinda said. Elphaba inhaled, about to say something when she suddenly lurched forward and gripped the toilet bowl again as she retched again. The blonde immediately moved to gently pull back her hair. When the green woman was done she muttered a word of gratitude to her friend and eased herself back so that she was leaning against the wall. The Blonde watched her with a deep worry in her eyes.

"Elphie," she began.

"No doctors, Glinda." The witch cut her off immediately. If her friend hadn't known her better she would have thought that the green woman was angry, but she _did_ know her better and therefore heard the edge of fear in her voice.

"Elphaba, if you're sick then the sooner they find out what's the matter, the sooner you can get well." She said patiently. The other witch again shook her head as she brought her knees up to her chest. It was at times like this that her "new" age really showed. She looked like a lost, somewhat frightened young woman as she rested her quickly hollowing cheek on her knees.

"I'm not worried that they'll tell me I'm sick." She confessed in what was almost a whisper as she slowly met Glinda's eyes. Her silver eyes were one thing that hadn't changed; they were old eyes. Eyes that had seen too much, eyes that were haunted, grieving, tired. The green woman took a deep breath and brought one hand up to her forehead and leaned into it slowly, as though she had a headache.

"Then…what?" Glinda asked. Her friend sighed.

"I'm worried that they'll tell me I'm not." She replied. The blonde blinked, confused. Elphaba closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, letting her hand fall to her abdomen limply. She took another deep breath "I haven't bled since the Fountain."

"Bled?" Glinda repeated "But you…ohhh! _Bled_," the blonde spluttered, finally understanding with a hint of embarrassment. A moment after it dawned on her, her jaw dropped in happy excitement

"You mean you think you might be…" she trailed off. Her friend nodded once and drew her legs up further towards her chest. The blonde, however, let out a squeal of delight and threw her arms around the green woman's narrow shoulders. She caught her off guard enough that Elphaba was thrown off-balance and nearly fell to the side as Glinda wrenched her this way and that like she used to in their college days.

"Oh, Elphie! That's wonderful! After so much death…oh it's so beautiferous! I could cry!"

"You are crying." Elphaba pointed out bluntly. It was true. The bubbly witch of the north did have droplets sliding gracefully down her cheeks even as she grinned. She touched her skin with the pads of her fingertips and looked at the moisture there. She shrugged and threw her arms around the green woman again (who replied with a grunt of something like 'okay…!' as she was again thrown off balance.)

"Oh, I don't care! It's still wonderful! I suppose it makes sense, I mean, you are…well, young, again aren't you? And-wait. Why would you be scared that you might be pregnant again?" Glinda broke off mid-sentence into her perplexed question. Elphaba took her chance and wriggled out of the other woman's grasp, getting to her feet with the fluid ease of the young that made Glinda jealous of the years she had regained.

"Glinda, what will Fiyero say? What if it's another girl? What if it has powers, what if it looks like her? He's barely spoken to me since…I don't know if he can do this again. I don't know if _I _can do this again. I don't even know if he still wants me...and I know where he's coming from."

"Elphie, that's—"

"I see her everywhere, Glinda!" Elphaba exclaimed "I see her in everything! In the trees, in paintings, in the spell books we read through together, in those bloody flowers that keep popping up—everything! I can barely look at Fiyero or Liir…and I didn't even meet her until she was all grown up! Fiyero _raised_ her. This hurts too much Glinda…it just hurts too much…I can't go through that again, _ever_."

"Then what are you going to do? If you are pregnant?" Glinda asked her gently "Get rid of it?"

"NO!" Elphaba exclaimed sharply, apparently a little shocked at her own vehemence before deflating slightly in uncertainty "Maybe…I don't know…no. I couldn't do it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't go through that again, but I don't think I can give it up…how am I going to tell Fiyero?"

"How did you tell him before?" Glinda asked facetiously "Was it complicated? I believe all you have to say is three words, 'Fiyero, I'm—"

"Snarkiness doesn't become you." The green woman snapped. The blonde didn't bother pointing out the hypocrisy of this statement. She put a hand on the other woman's bony shoulder.

"Just tell him. Worst case scenario, you and I will take care of the kid. Liir didn't turn out too bad, did he?" she said, meaning every word of it. She hoped for the best, but should it not happen, well it would be nice to have a child running around the Palace again.

Elphaba put a hand over the one that her friend had on her shoulder gratefully. No matter what happened, her best friend had her back. It didn't make things perfect, but it did make them a little easier at least. She nodded.

"I'll make an appointment tomorrow." She said.

8888888

The outermost door leading to the South Stairs was strangely ordinary. Small too. Made mostly of heavy wood, it had strips of cast iron around the edges and down its length in three strips with another two across it width-wise. Liir was just in the process of studying all the different swirls and lines that the tree had left when it was dismantled when the door opened to reveal a pale, rodent-like man flanked by a pair of guards.

"Sire," he said sleekly with a sly little bow "I am Undermayor Chyde, Warden of the South Stairs. I believe you requested a visitation with one of our prisoners. Here is your lantern. Stay within sight of the guards. Do not go near the bars or talk with any prisoners aside from the one you are here to see. Do not speak your name, we have a few hedge-wizards in there."

Liir nodded, accepted the lantern and followed the guards. They went down a long set of twisting stone stairs, their surroundings getting progressively darker with the lanterns they held as the only source of illumination. The place was as nightmarish as he had always thought with manacles hanging from the walls alongside and in between the distantly spaced torches.

"How do you see down here?" Liir asked after a few minutes when they reached the bottom of the stairs and started navigating the tunnel-like corridors lined with occupied cells.

"You get used to the lighting." Chyde said in his oily voice "May I ask you a question of my own, my liege?"

Liir shrugged

"Why have you chosen to visit our humble abode? It I am not out of order." The under mayor asked sleekly

"It's just…something that I've been putting off for too long." Liir replied. "And something that I sort of owe someone."

The Warden shrugged and continued leading the way They seemed to be walking a very long time but finally they arrived at a large, heavy iron door with a circular wheel in the centre to open it like a vault. There were two torches on either side of the door that were much larger than the ones lining the walls of the prison and a lantern at the top of the door, providing excellent illumination for a good 10 feet around the door. There was no way the guards (both of whom were even larger than Liir and Chyde's escorts) would miss anything approaching this cell.

"Impressive." Liir commented as the Warden jingled his keys on approaching the door. The guards stood down as he did so.

"We have made some…renovations to our high-security cell since our special guests arrived." Chyde told him in that oily voice of his as he motioned for the two guards to open the vault-like door. It swung open slowly with a high-pitched drawn-out scream of metal as it went. Liir wondered if it was designed that way to make it even more difficult for anything to happen in that cell without an improvised alarm unintentionally sounding. Whether or not this was true wasn't Liir's primary thought for long as they entered.

Beyond the vault-like door was a large room with a section cordoned off by metal bars. The light was a great deal dimmer in this section, illuminated only by a lamp and leaving the prisoner in almost total darkness unless he had a visitor. On the outside of the bars, the one closest to the vault-door was a small, rickety wooden table with a wooden pitcher and chipped wooden cup on top of it as well as a basin of water. There was also a cabinet, though it couldn't immediately be seen what was inside. There was also a single chair made of sturdy wood with a cushion strapped to it.

Liir held his lantern up a little higher than eye-level and out towards the row of vertical iron bars that housed the prisoner he wanted to see. Sure enough there was someone there. The manacles attached to the wall were not in use but the huddled figure in there was attached to a large, heavy metal ball that was undoubtedly loud if dragged across the floor. At the moment this security measure was silent and immobile as the man connected to it (by what was also probably a heavy chain) didn't seem very interested in moving. He didn't even scratch at the specially designed collar around his neck which dampened his powers.

The once Great Mage Xorthion had changed a great deal in the months since Liir had seen him last. He couldn't see very much because of the shapeless rag he was wearing, but Liir was certain that he had lost weight. His hair was longer, shaggier and unkempt, making the other man doubt that it had seen a brush or comb since before his botched attempt at summoning the Time Dragon. His posture had also changed, and it was more than just his back being hunched over; his arms hung limply around his knees and his head leaned against the wall like it didn't have the strength required to hold it up. Just as he was being scrutinized the imprisoned man shifted listlessly, obliviously allowing the rag to slide a little to one side to reveal some of the bruises and cuts that seemed to adorn his raw skin. The movement and the sight of those discoloured patches made the visitor see that there were more on his neck and shoulders. There was also a bandage wrapped around at least one of his wrists, the other was not in view. Liir looked around sharply at the Warden who had accompanied him in simultaneous reproach and curiosity.

It didn't take much to tell what he was thinking and the warden shook his head.

"Spell applies to him, too, it seems," the man said "What you see he did to himself. All that we added were the bandages. He tried to slit his wrists first chance he got. Sharpened a rusted piece of metal. Apparently the spell the mage—pardon me, milord, your sister—used lets us rough them up if we're trying to save them, so some of the bruises are courtesy of his good attendants. Rest he did to himself."

"And you haven't been doing anything to stop it?" Liir enquired. The Warden's civility lapsed momentarily and some of the guards stiffened agressively.

"Why should we, milord?" He demanded "Thanks t'that witchcraft we might not be able to hurt him but that doesn't mean we have any sort of mushy feelings for the bastards!"

"Yet…you didn't let him kill himself?" Liir said, more of a statement than a question really. The Warden gave a nasty leer and the pair of guards exchanged hard, vicious smirks.

"That spell has a deadline. Soon as it's up, there'll be a lot for this war criminal to answer for. We're not about to let him take the easy way out. Thought you of all people would understand that, given what _he's_ done. Even when it comes to yourself, milord."

Liir bridled a little at the implication that he cared only for his own personal revenge but could see their point. Even if he followed the other man's advice and only looked at what the wraith of a man who was their prisoner had done just to him and his own he felt his blood start to boil.

This man had betrayed his sister and killed Jack, a fine Animal whom he couldn't say he knew as well as he wanted to but had liked nonetheless. This man had orphaned Zach. This man had broken his sister's heart and nearly destroyed Liir's relationship with her. This man had tortured him. This man had eventually (however obliviously) driven a wedge between twins, or had in the very least been the cause of why Liir and Rhonaraye had not been on speaking terms at the time of her death. This man had _caused_ his sister's death. This man was the reason for the mental agony that Liir was still feeling. He had every reason to hate him and he did. He hated all that he represented, all that Liir connected him with. He should be cheering him on in his suicide attempts, enjoy watching him rot, be handing him the tools with which to destroy himself…

But he couldn't.

Instead, Liir turned to the warden and guards.

"Leave us, please." He ordered politely. They didn't move. He clenched his teeth and sharpened his tone "What I have to discuss with this…_mage _is private. Besides, I am neither fragile nor weak and he is bound by the same spell that we are and couldn't harm me if he wanted to, not that it seems he is interested in much of anything," Liir spat out the last sentence bitterly. He did still hate Xorthion, after all.

The Warden and guards hesitated very little before they grudgingly turned around and left, closing the door behind them with a soft, echoing boom. Liir watched them go a minute to make sure that they had left before he carefully placed the somewhat heavy bag down against the wall and exchanged it for a chair in the corner. He pulled said chair over to the centre of the bars dividing the cell in two. He sat down on it and made himself as comfortable as he could on the hard, un-cushioned wood. He regarded the man huddled in his chains with contempt for a few moments.

"You bastard." Liir spat after about a minute. "You selfish, self-centered, ungrateful bastard!"

Xorthion—no, Liir reminded himself, _Tristan_—looked up slowly, his golden eyes lackluster and dull from grief and sunken into his head from partial starvation. He shook his head and held Liir's scornful gaze as he raised his bandaged arm.

"I-I tried." He croaked, indicating the bandaged wound "I _tried_…"

"You think that I want you dead?" his visitor demanded harshly. Tristan blinked in confusion and opened and closed his mouth a few times as he tried to get past this baffling thought

"Ye-yes…you should. _I_ do." He rasped.

"Well, I don't." was the curt reply he received. The fallen mage frowned slightly and then a look of dawning comprehension lit across his features for a moment and he nodded.

"Ah, yes. You're right. I don't deserve such a quick end." He agreed as he turned his body away from the corner to sit and face his visitor. He seemed oddly energized by this thought as he settled himself into a cross-legged meditation pose with his hands resting lightly on his knees, palm up. Slowly, once he had settled himself, he allowed his head to fall forward in a submissive gesture and allowed his hands to slide off his knees to the floor, offering himself up.

"It is only fair," Tristan said without looking up, his voice still a hoarse croak. "I tortured you, after all."

Liir let out a scoffing noise almost identical to the one that he had heard his mother use when she was impatient and/or disgusted as he got to his feet and walked over to the small, rickety table on the opposite wall where a dirty pitcher and a clouded glass stood.

"You know that I won't be able to actually _harm_ you for quite a while." Liir replied as he poured some of the water into the clouded glass.

"You can if you do it _right_!" Tristan exclaimed desperately as his head snapped up, the last word cracking on his parched vocal cords. "Every spell has loopholes! You just have to use your head you stupid lout! Allow an accident to happen with something flammable near my cell! _Force_-feed me! Drop that pitcher and then push something electrical into the puddle! It probably won't kill me if you spread out the charge enough! Give me something to make with nettles and I'll—"

"You really want to be punished, don't you?" Liir interrupted, if nothing else to stop the litany of creative ways to allow him to torture himself. He walked over to the bars and stuck one hand through, offering the prisoner the glass of water.

"Drink," he commanded "Come on. _Now_. If we're going to be carrying on a conversation you're going to need your voice, because I will not talk _at_ you and I'm not leaving until we've had this conversation. Now drink and we'll be able to talk."

Slowly, hesitantly, Tristan crawled to his feet. He stood shakily and stumbled forward to the bars, his own leg tripping him up when he wasn't strong enough to drag the heavy ball attached to him through the equally heavy chain. He slopped a great deal of the liquid but still managed to drink a few sips, which he gagged. He downed a second cup with more ease. His guest nodded slightly in approval before glancing around. There was no chair in the prisoner's cell.

"Sit." Liir said. Tristan obeyed and as he did so Liir slowly eased himself to the floor so that they were on the same level. This appeared to confuse Tristan as his guest leaned his back against the chair and crossed his legs.

"I will ask them to bring a chair into your room." Liir stated candidly after a spell of silence "Nothing luxurious but you will at least be able to sit. I'll also see what I can do about a better blanket then whatever thing that is on the cot over there. Apart from its holes I think I just saw it move."

Tristan blinked, not quite comprehending what he was hearing, or rather, who he was hearing it from. Regardless of the look of shock on his face the other young man continued

"Then, maybe after a little while—if you behave yourself— I'll see about getting you a book or two, _maybe_. You won't be getting any magic but I might be able to scrounge a novel or two or even an old textbook on something harmless." Liir snorted "Chances are, you'll get a book of scriptures. They'll all be out to convert you. We can negotiate the lighting in here when we get to that bridge—"

"Why don't you hate me?" Tristan cut in, his eyes wide and his face as slack with shock as it might have been had Liir splashed a bucket of cold water in his face. The visitor's expression hardened and he clenched his teeth. His statements had been short, candid and straightforward, though laced with barely contained disdain, almost as though this were a chore he had resisted doing.

"Trust me," He growled at the man on the other side of the bars "I do."

"Then _punish me, _man! Punish me! _Make me pay for what I've done_!" Tristan yelled, the water having given his voice enough power for an increase in volume. His fervor made him leap to his feet and jump at the bars towards Liir, clutching the cold iron with his hands hard enough to drain whatever remaining colour was left from his knuckles. "I tortured you! I helped start a war! I betrayed the trust of everyone I knew! My only possible redeeming act was probably killing the Master who had my earliest claim to loyalty! I KILLED YOUR SISTER!"

"AND I HATE YOU FOR IT WITH ALL THAT I AM!" Liir bellowed in his face as he also grabbed the bars. Over the course of the Mage's outburst he had slowly risen to his feet so that they were once again level. Both men were breathing audibly after their shouting but it was Rhonaraye's brother who once again broke the silence

"But much as I'd like to, I can't torture you…and I can't leave you here to rot." He finally said. He grimaced, his injuries protesting the sudden movement as he sat back in the chair, moving with a practised ease into a casual, princely lounge that didn't make his body hurt too much. Tristan just gawked at him.

"Why?" he demanded "I would!"

"Someone didn't believe that. Someone thought that, maybe, just maybe, there was some good buried deep down inside of you that was worth salvaging. _She's_ the reason I'm here, not you."

Tristan's face fell in a look of such agonizing grief that it looked as though it might tear him apart. And that was exactly what it _was_ doing. The grief was driving the guilt that made him so desperately seek out punishment. He stumbled back and nearly tripped over the ball before making it to the wall and leaning his forearm against it, pressing his forehead into the stone.

"It should have been me." He whispered hoarsely "Not her, not that suffering. Not that pain. Not her, never! Never her…Never…"

"No argument here." Liir said darkly "But…neither of us could stop her. No one could once she'd set her mind to it. You and I both know that. We both knew her, both thought that we could predict her and both found out how arrogant we were. The hard way."

Tristan thumped his forehead against the wall with a soft sob.

"I can't live with this…" he shuddered tearfully.

"It's not easy," the other man agreed "Living with the knowledge that someone died for you. Knowing that it's because of you that they're gone, feeling unworthy of this gift they've given you without your consent."

"It's different for you!" Tristan snarled, his fist clenching further "You didn't kill her! If I'd never tried that spell…"

"Then she wouldn't be dead, you're right. She also wouldn't be dead if she hadn't loved me and Zach and our parents and Candle, either! She wouldn't be dead if we'd paid attention to the warning signs, if we'd managed to stop her, if we'd done a lot of things and would still be here if she hadn't had such a dammed martyr complex!"

"I should have stopped her…"

"You might have been able to if you had taken her offer and left instead of being so stuck on revenge! The fact is, we didn't stop her. We can't change anything now. So you know what? The _least_ you can do is live with that guilt, dammit! And I mean it's the _least_! You know what, how dare you? How dare you try and throw your life away when she died to give it to you? You ungrateful bastard."

"She didn't die for me you ignorant brat!" Tristan raged "She knows that my life is _nothing_ without her! She is the only one I have _ever_ loved and _will ever_ love! She is the only one who ever loved me! No, she died for you and th-that-that _**Mule**_ and the rest of the ungrateful selfish _horde_ who saw her as nothing but a cursing _weapon_!"

The mage was panting slightly by the time he finished his outraged rant. Liir said nothing throughout it and listened silently. Once the other man was done he leaned in even more, his nose pressing through the gaps between bars

"I'm her brother, you son of a bitch. I felt her die." He snarled "I loved her, too. We were connected and she was a part of me. Now I live with both the knowledge and memory of how painful those last moments were for her and the daily agony of that gaping open wound in my head from where our connection was ripped apart! We both made mistakes, you and I, but don't you _dare_ say that I didn't love her!"

Tristan turned slightly and searched his gaze a moment, shaking his head slightly in confusion. He still didn't understand.

"Why are you here?" he asked in a whisper. Liir let out a deep breath and took a step back.

"I already told you, my sister loved you." He said, retaking his seat, "I don't know why, but the fact is that she did. Enough that she couldn't ignore it, enough to sneak off to see you, enough to kill for you…alright, let me explain it this way." He sat down in his chair and leaned toward him, talking with his hands a little as he spoke.

"We've all made mistakes," he said. As he began to speak Tristan sat down, like a pupil listening to a teacher. Liir continued "We've established that. We've all done things we aren't proud of and things that we probably didn't think we would have ever even dreamt of doing before this war started. Rhonaraye had done her share of shameful things—don't interrupt!—She did and she felt guilt for it. We're all looking for redemption. For penance. She sought hers through her…death. You, my friend, are going to seek yours through living. She loved you, Tristan. She loved you more deeply than I think any of us could have guessed. Not only that, but she _could_ have fed you to the dragon. He would have taken her anyway to satisfy his thirst for the blood of both worlds but she could have given him you for the magic component of the sacrifice if she had wanted to. She didn't. She must have thought that there was _something_ in you worthy of that chance at redemption. Something worth salvaging."

Liir ended his speech on that statement and said no more, waiting for the impact of what he had said to sink in. Tristan didn't say anything. He just stared at him. That was enough for one day, he supposed and the visitor got to his feet with a slight wince and made his way stiffly over to the door. He stopped there before opening it and bent down to carefully retrieve the only item in the satchel. When he turned around Tristan could see that he held a simple clay pot in his hands containing a small, planted cutting of a rosebush. There was a single, small bud remaining of the flowers that the plant proudly boasted. Even in the poor light the prisoner recognised it.

It was a Scarlet Mage.

The flower he had created.

Rhonaraye's flower.

Their flower.

Liir walked back to the bars and knelt down to where a few of the iron rods were placed on a hinge through which food trays were usually slid. He opened it and carefully pushed the pot through. Neither man looked at one another as this happened. Instead, they both stared at the fragile little plant. Tristan didn't know this, but Liir had found it near the site of the battle; frail and struggling to survive amongst the carnage that still polluted that area. The other man had tears in his eyes again as he reached a trembling hand towards the plant and lifted the clay container. He held it close to him and embedded a finger in the cool, moist soil to feel the earth between his fingers again.

Liir cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Starting today you'll see me once a month, every month. Stay on your best behaviour or I'll hear about it." He told the man in the cell gruffly without looking him in the eye. He stood again and headed for the door. Just as he opened it Tristan looked up from his gift.

"Wait," He pleaded. His visitor paused with his hand poised on the handle, the heavy wooden door open.

"What's yours? What are you doing…for redemption? For her? What's your…task? "

Liir smiled ever so slightly to himself as he huffed a little and turned back to the prisoner.

"I would have thought that was obvious." He said. When Tristan didn't answer he elaborated,

"You are."

He left and shut the door behind him.

**888888888888888888888888**

"All packed?" Glinda asked as she and Liir came down the steps of the Emerald Palace. Fiyero and Elphaba had few possessions, especially for a couple about to ascend to royalty. Etween Elphaba's characteristic austerity and disinterest in fashion and Fiyero's decades as a scarecrow they had very few articles of clothing to pack. Most of their luggage came in the form of the Green Witch's library and supplies for the monkeys. The Witch turned from securing her trunk of magic supplies to the back of the coach and nodded.

"Came to see you off." Liir said.

"Ooh, are you sure you must leave now?" Glinda half-whined "Your parents' are in reasonable health, the Vinkus doesn't need a prince and princess right now! Stay longer, what about a honeymoon?" the blonde took her friend's hands in her own and swung them childishly a moment, her thumb sliding over the ring on her friend's left ring-finger. Elphaba smiled slightly. She was almost glowing.

"It's fine, Glinda. We had a few days." She said.

"I still say you should have let me plan the wedding! You could have at least given me a few days' notice instead of waking me up in the middle of the night!" The blonde pined. "I wasn't even in my best gown!"

"We wanted it small. Private. We didn't want a spectacle." Elphaba reminded her. Fiyero leaned over from his position on the roof as she said this and they exchange a sedately happy glance with one another. Three nights ago they had woken Glinda, Ijiri, Liir, Candle and Zach and taken them to the courthouse where they exchanged vows in front of a Priest who had qualifications as a judge. Glinda had been thrilled to be the maid of honor, but was smarting that she hadn't been able to throw one of the massive parties she so adored.

"But can't you stay a little longer?" she asked again.

"If we wait much longer we'll get snowed out of the Vinkus." Fiyero said "It's better if we travel before winter."

"Besides," Elphaba added, a hand going to her abdomen "It's better if I travel sooner rather than later."

While she was not yet noticeably showing, there was no longer any doubt that there would soon be a new heir to the Vinkus throne. Elphaba had finally seen a physician who had confirmed her suspicion. Breaking the news to Fiyero had not been as bad as she had thought, though it had not been what Glinda had hoped for. He had said very little at the time and then spoken to no one for days. After his third day of self-imposed silence he had gone to the Witch's chambers. They had stayed in there together for a very long time and after they emerged the couple were once again joined at the hip. The offer from the Vinkus had arrived shortly after. Now the newlyweds were headed to Fiyero's homeland to take their position as crowned Prince and Princess.

Glinda sighed dramatically and nodded in an overly-dramatic, tragic way.

"I suppose I shall be left here all on my own, nary a person to talk to…" she sighed

"You have the mirror." Ijiri teased gruffly as he came up behind her. She gave him an affectionately annoyed back-handed slap to the chest. He laughed good-naturedly and put an arm around the blonde's shoulders. She quirked an eyebrow and shook her head, giving him a peck on the cheek before noticing something over to the side. She clicked off to tell someone off about their choice of tack for the horses. Something about it being a 'clashing colour'. The others watched her charge off with smiles and shakes of their heads.

"I'd better go head her off before we have a scene on our hands." Ijiri said as he jogged off after his lover. Liir watched him until he and Glinda were both out of earshot and returned his attention to his parents. It was still so strange, seeing them. He and his father really did resemble each other in human form, it appeared. They didn't exactly look like father and son, though. Not with the youthful appearance that both of his parents now possessed. Physically he and his parents were only a few years apart now thanks to the Fountain of Youth. And people had thought their family couldn't get any more...unique. As strange as it was around them, however, this was what he had wanted since he'd found out about his mother's recent pregnancy: a moment of privacy with his parents. It was not he who spoke first, though.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Fiyero asked him. Liir shook his head.

"No." He said "I have to stay here. We have a lot of work to do in 10 years here. Having someone of Grandfather's line working with Glinda will help with some of the snobbier politicians." Liir's face fell as did his tone at the mention of his grandfather. He had been so caught up in grief for his friends and sister that he sometimes forgot that his grandfather was gone too. They hadn't exactly been on speaking terms when he died, but the old man had meant a great deal to Liir. His mother might not know how to feel about the Wizard, but Liir mourned him.

"You're always welcome in the Vinkus. You are my firstborn, after all." Fiyero said with a half-hearted half-smile on his face. This was another point that Liir wanted to talk to them about, he hoped it wouldn't be one of contention.

"About the throne, Father, would there be problems if I abdicated my claim to it?" he asked "I don't want it. I'll be having my fill of politicians in the next decade."

"There might be some arguments, but we'll handle it, son

"You don't have to do this." Elphaba said, her protestation out of some strange form of perceived obligation rather than the intention of stopping him. Again her son shook his head

"No, I really do. She did what she did to give us this chance, and a she wasn't the only one to sacrifice her life for the future. I…I owe to all of them. Nari, Akota, Ralimla, everybody. I'm better used here where I can help make sure that it wasn't completely pointless." He said, almost as though he were convincing himself of his self-appointed mission. He looked up warily to gauge his parents' reaction. To his relief he saw understanding there. But now it was nearly time for them to part. His mother stepped forward and embraced him. She said nothing, but didn't really have to. Fiyero hopped down and clapped his shoulder in a friendly way with a smile on his face as Glinda came bustling over and clamped her arms around Elphaba with a squeal that mentioned something about her not wanting the green woman to go. It took a few minutes to disentangle the blonde from her best friend long enough to get the green witch into the carriage with her husband. Elphaba leaned out the open window to look down at them, smiling thinly at Liir.

"Do I have to tell you to watch yourself, or are you too old for that?" She asked jokingly with a sort of parental nostalgia. Liir was very serious, however, and seized the opportunity to spit out what he had wanted to mention to them initially.

"Mother, about the baby," He began, "If it's a girl…a second chance isn't a do-over. Don't—"

"We weren't going to." Elphaba said, cutting him off kindly, taking his hand. "We already discussed it. She'll have her own name and will be her own person. She's no replacement. We've already made that decision."

Liir felt strangely relieved at this and squeezed his mother's hand.

"Safe journey." He said. She nodded and they released hands, the witch resting her forearm on the ledge of the carriage window as the driver took off. She waved to Glinda, who was waving a handkerchief and sniffling and to Candle and Zach, standing at the stairs to the palace and waving politely at the couple. She nodded to them and then looked around at the courtyard. There were so many memories in this place, many of them from her dark days as a prisoner behind these walls. Yet, she no longer felt the deep, burning hatred for the place that she had cultivated so ardently for so long. It was strange, like a weight had been lifted. It had been a very comforting weight, but a weight nonetheless. Elphaba felt Fiyero gently put a hand on her leg and ducked her head under the window to look at him.

The green woman put a hand over her husband's and withdrew a little green bottle from the folds of her skirts. She looked at it a moment and then replaced it as she looked at Fiyero. He looked back and squeezed her hand.

"Nervous?" he asked her

"A bit." She admitted "I've never been very loveable to the public, you have to admit." She said, one hand subconsciously going to her belly to indicate another worry that she had. Fiyero pulled her close to him.

"Everything will work out. You'll see." He said, echoing a statement he'd made decades ago after she'd told him of her first pregnancy. Their world had made such drastic, unbelievable changes since then. They'd been parents, lost each other for years, found each other again, fought wars, lost a child. They weren't in hiding anymore and were going to become monarchs. But none of these struck Elphaba as the most peculiar difference between this time he comforted her with such a phrase and the last time.

The strangest difference was that this time, oddly enough, she believed him.

_**AAANNNDDD We're done! That's it! **_

_**Now, as promised, I'd like to give a great big shout out to everybody who stuck with me through this monster of a fanfic and kept reading and reviewing! You are all awesome! Especially all those who were there right from the very beginning (and there were some of you! You are particularly incredible!) . **_

_**Now, on the matter of a sequel.**_

_**On my profile page under the section of my up-coming works I have a sequel for this posted and I do have ideas for it. However, this seems like a good ending to me. So , as usual, I would like some feedback. I'll put the same request up on my profile but what do you guys think; sequel or no?**_

_**Once again, thanks so much to everyone who stuck with me. **_

_**And with that, it is finished! **_


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